Perceptions of Australian and Malaysian Educators in an Undergraduate Pharmacy Program on Case-based Learning

Abstract

Objective. To determine the perceptions of lecturers toward case-based learning (CBL) and to elicit their feedback and opinions regarding the design of CBL sessions within the pharmacy curricula. Methods. One-on-one interviews were conducted with 10 academic staff members involved in teaching an undergraduate Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) program. All sessions were audio-recorded and field notes were compiled. The recordings were transcribed, and thematic analysis of responses was performed. Results. Four key themes were identified: perceived benefits of CBL, challenges in implementing CBL within the curricula, characteristics of effective and engaging CBL, and relevance and implementation of CBL within the curriculum. Some of the specific benefits of CBL identified by participants included the applicability of knowledge learned to students' future role as pharmacists. Participants also identified challenges such as the design of CBL cases and course time constraints. Respondents also emphasized the need for more training for facilitators in how to design cases and facilitate sessions. Conclusion. While participants identified numerous benefits of CBL, they also identified challenges to implementing this learning method within the pharmacy school curriculum. Paying careful attention to selecting facilitators and providing appropriate facilitator training, in terms of facilitation and case design, is paramount in effectively implementing CBL sessions.

Assessing Female Pharmacy Students’ Satisfaction with Active Learning Techniques at King Saud University

“…In today’s pharmacy curricula, engaging students in active learning has emerged as an essential means of equipping graduates and undergraduate students with the practical knowledge and skills required to address and resolve emerging challenges and become a competent member of a healthcare team. 1 Active learning is a strategy in which instructors use various tools and techniques to help shift lectures from input-based pedagogy, in which students are simply listening to instructors, to learner-centered pedagogy, which emphasizes student participation. 1 , 2 Among these learning strategies are the audience response system (ARS) and flipped classrooms.…”

“… 1 Active learning is a strategy in which instructors use various tools and techniques to help shift lectures from input-based pedagogy, in which students are simply listening to instructors, to learner-centered pedagogy, which emphasizes student participation. 1 , 2 Among these learning strategies are the audience response system (ARS) and flipped classrooms.…”

An Evaluation of Curriculum change in Physiology: A Mixed method research design

“…Teamwork in the health care system, where two or more people interact and work for a common purpose and goal, is a key component to make decisions as a unit, while giving patient care and communicating with patients' family and friends. Undoubtedly, repeated CBL exposure in the pre-clinical years, prepares these budding doctors for their future responsibility of handling the situations in a real context [11,[13][14][15][18][19][20].…”

Design, Implementation and Evaluation of Student-centric learning in Physiology

“…It seems likely that repeated CBL exposure in the pre-clinical years would prepare these budding doctors for their future responsibility of handling teamwork and communication situations in a real context. 11,[13][14][15][18][19][20] Students also felt that CBL learning helped them acquire and improve their problem-solving ability. The problemsolving ability, which involves mental processes to solve medical problems, can be defined as a hypotheticaldeductive activity engaged in by experienced physicians, in which the early generation of hypotheses influences the subsequent gathering of information.…”