Implications of failure on students who have repeated a class in a faculty of pharmacy

Abstract

Introduction: Academic failure is a major contributor to attrition in pharmacy education, and this attrition is also associated with other effects that are secondary fallouts of academic failure. This study sought to assess the emotional implications and overall psychological impact of academic failure among students who repeated at least one class in the pharmacy program at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Methods: The study involved 177 students from the 200 level to 500 level at the School of Pharmacy, OAU who had repeated at least one class. A pretested questionnaire was administered using a random sampling method. The questionnaire was divided into four sections assessing demographics, the academic emotions caused by academic failure, the psychological effects of failure, and the possible effects of academic failure on subsequent performance.

Results: Results indicated that the most common emotions among students who had repeated a class included shame (80%), anger (77.4%), anxiety (61%), and boredom (61%), which are all negative academic emotions. The repurposed Impact of Event Scale gave a median score of 41 out of a possible 42. Respondents also agreed that feelings of boredom, anger, anxiety, and shame subsequently impacted class attendance, learning, and test preparation.

Conclusions: The study showed that students who had repeated at least one class experienced negative academic emotions and may have suffered symptoms typical of post-traumatic stress disorder. These emotional effects of academic failure were also noted to impact subsequent academic performance.

Keywords: Academic failure; Academic performance; Attrition; Emotions; Pharmacy education; Retention.