Pharmacy Students’ Performance and Perceptions in a Flipped Teaching Pilot on Cardiac Arrhythmias

Abstract

Objective. To implement the flipped teaching method in a 3-class pilot on cardiac arrhythmias and to assess the impact of the intervention on academic performance and student perceptions.Design. An intervention group of 101 first-year pharmacy students, who took the class with the flipped teaching method, were supplied with prerecorded lectures prior to their 3 classes (1 class in each of the following subjects: basic sciences, pharmacology, and therapeutics) on cardiac arrhythmias. Class time was focused on active-learning and case-based exercises. Students then took a final examination that included questions on cardiac arrhythmias. The examination scores of the intervention group were compared to scores of the Spring 2011 control group of 105 first-year students who took the class with traditional teaching methods. An online survey was conducted to assess student feedback from the intervention group. Assessment. The mean examination scores of the intervention group were significantly higher than the mean examination scores of the control group for the cardiac arrhythmia classes in pharmacology (with 89.6 6 2.0% vs 56.8 6 2.2%, respectively) and therapeutics (89.2 6 1.4% vs 73.7 6 2.1%, respectively). The survey indicated higher student satisfaction for flipped classes with highly rated learning objectives, recordings, and in-class activities. Conclusion. Use of the flipped teaching method in a 3-class pilot on cardiac arrhythmias improved examination scores for 2 of the 3 classes (pharmacology and therapeutics). Student satisfaction was influenced by the quality of the learning objectives, prerecorded lectures, and inclass active-learning activities.

Impact of Flipped Classroom Design on Student Performance and Perceptions in a Pharmacotherapy Course

“…11,17,18,34,35 In our study, the mean examination scores and the overall grades improved significantly after the redesign. Students performed significantly better on 11 of 27 repeated examination questions but significantly worse on two of them.…”

Students’ Attitudes, Academic Performance and Preferences for Content Delivery in a Very Large Self-Care Course Redesign

“…28 Conversely, some reports discuss decreased student satisfaction, 25 significantly decreased examination scores resulting from a lack of accountability for out-of-class preparation, 29 and student satisfaction being influenced by the quality of content and activities. 27 Some negative aspects of TBL in the literature include increased preparation time by students and faculty members as well as student dissatisfaction (especially among introverted individuals and those who prefer the traditional faculty role of lecturing and storytelling). 25,27,30,31 Based on the literature review, faculty members teaching this course hypothesized that a change to a flipped team-based learning classroom would allow them to dedicate efforts towards discussing patient cases and relevant materials and answering student questions.…”

“…27 Some negative aspects of TBL in the literature include increased preparation time by students and faculty members as well as student dissatisfaction (especially among introverted individuals and those who prefer the traditional faculty role of lecturing and storytelling). 25,27,30,31 Based on the literature review, faculty members teaching this course hypothesized that a change to a flipped team-based learning classroom would allow them to dedicate efforts towards discussing patient cases and relevant materials and answering student questions. This, in turn, would increase students' participation, enthusiasm, and interest in the course content.…”

“…20 A growing body of literature on flipped classroom in medical, nursing, and pharmacy education reports that flipped courses improves attendance 21,22 and increases grades [21][22][23][24][25][26][27] and performance in follow-up courses. 28 Conversely, some reports discuss decreased student satisfaction, 25 significantly decreased examination scores resulting from a lack of accountability for out-of-class preparation, 29 and student satisfaction being influenced by the quality of content and activities.…”

How Do Medical Students Prepare for Flipped Classrooms?

“…Some studies provide evidence showing improved performance for students learning in the flipped classroom compared to traditional (lecture based) classrooms [5,[8][9][10], and others indicate that students are more satisfied [11][12][13]. Conversely, increased time commitments and study load for students have been addressed [1,8,14].…”