Evaluating Pharmacy Students' Perceptions with Outcome-Based Learning in Toxicology Testing

Abstract

This research marks the inaugural exploration into student perceptions of outcome-based learning at Rangsit University's College of Pharmacy. The study focuses on PHA 552 Toxicology Testing, a novel lecture course in the industrial pharmacy curriculum, offering one credit to fifth-year students. Currently, the curriculum is content-centric, but a shift towards outcome-based learning is anticipated. The course serves as a pilot for innovative educational methods, employing a constructivist alignment strategy. This approach used intended learning outcomes to guide the creation of relevant assessments and teaching activities, based on the ADDIE model. The objective was to devise teaching strategies using the ADDIE framework and assess student reactions to outcome-based learning in this context. In this study, an online questionnaire served as the primary instrument for collecting pharmacy students' perspectives on the outcome-based learning of this course. The assessment of the learning approach's effectiveness was determined through a descriptive analysis of the average scores for each survey question. Feedback from 76 students revealed that the ADDIE model successfully guided the comprehensive analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of learning activities, all aligned with set outcomes. Activities were thoughtfully designed using a backward design, ensuring alignment with these outcomes. Students responded positively to the course process, teaching methods, and evaluation, particularly appreciating the formative assessments and the clarity of evaluation methods. However, course timing was a noted concern. Overall, the ADDIE model's application in creating the PHA 552 course proved effective, with most students indicating high satisfaction with the outcome-based approach.