Course design, delivery, and assessment strategies for pharmaceutical calculations course in a doctor of pharmacy program: A review

Abstract

Background: Pharmaceutical calculations is a fundamental course taken by doctor of pharmacy students in United States schools and colleges of pharmacy. To minimize medical errors and increase the accuracy with which future pharmacists perform calculations, a comprehensive training during the program is deemed. This review attempts to summarize research outcomes of interventions described thus far in the literature concerning the improvement of course design, delivery, and assessment strategies.

Methods: A detailed literature review of various educational resources was conducted using pharmaceutical calculations and related terms.

Results: The literature review outcomes were divided into three major categories: educational interventions in design, delivery, and assessment of pharmaceutical calculations courses. The research findings of course design describe a standalone course vs. an integrated course, a computer-aided course, use of compact disc read-only memory, and implementation of Gagne's Nine Events of Instructions. Findings in course delivery include the use of self-paced vs. integrated courses, flipped classroom vs. traditional lecture, Keller's Personalized System of Instruction, condensed videos, and podcasts. Finally, different types of assessments are presented such as those based on selected- vs. constructed-response questions, collaborative quizzes, the approach of repeated testing, and the use of technology.

Implications: While the review intends to present educational interventions available to construct and/or modify an existing pharmaceutical calculations course, the choice of design, delivery, and assessment approaches depends upon various factors such as the purpose of course modification, resources available, and the number of students in class.

Keywords: Course assessment; Course delivery; Course design; Flipped classroom; Pharmaceutical calculations; Pharmacy calculations.