NEW LEARNING METHODOLOGIES INCREASES THE COMPREHENSION OF THE STUDENTS IN PHARMACEUTICAL TECHNOLOGY

Yolanda CAMPOS, M José CANO-CEBRIÁN, Teresa M GARRIGUES, Lucía T HIPÓLITO, Ana MELERO*, (alphabetical order)Dpt. Pharmacy and Pharm Technology and Parasitology. University of Valencia.

Pharmaceutical Technology is a compulsory subject in Spanish Pharmacy Degree. One of its characteristics is that it gathers concepts from different areas of knowledge such

as physiology, physics, chemistry and engineering processes.

This feature makes it of special difficulty for the students since they need to integrate previous knowledge in order to understand and manage the characteristics of the

formulations designed for the different routes of administration. Although a special failure rate in comparison with other compulsory subjects in Pharmacy Degree has not been

observed, the marks of the students are usually lower, suggesting a lack of deep understanding because a failure in the integration of all the concepts underlying

Pharmaceutical Technology. To improve student’s comprehension of the subject, we applied learning through project work at laboratory sessions together with the

possibility of taking voluntary periodic online evaluations during the course.

HIGHLY POSITIVE STUDENTS EVALUATION OF THE NEW METHODOLOGIES IN THE LABORATORY SESSIONS

The students were asked to evaluate the new methodologies employed through aKahoot survey. Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform, used as educationaltechnology in schools and other educational institutions.

1.Did you find the laboratory sessions useful?2.Does the project work methodology improveyour learning more than the classical system?

3. Do you think that the learning material isappropriate?

4. Do you think that the evaluation system ofprojects is better than a regular exam?

5. Would you recommend this laboratorysessions to other students?

6. Do you find the degree of difficultyappropriate to your level?

7.Do you prefer this new methodology of thelaboratory sessions rather than the classicalsystem? Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7

YES

NO

Figure 1. Answers of the students to the survey for the evaluation of the laboratorysessions within the 2017-2018 academic year

Panel 1. Questions asked to the students through the Kahoot

survey for the evaluation of the laboratory sessions

STUDENTS OBTAINED BETTER RESULTS IN THE FINAL EXAM

Year

1. An improvement in the number of the studentswho passed the subject was observed since themethodology started to become more question-driven (2017) and emphasis was put on thepractical applications of the subject concepts.

2. After implementation of the innovation Project,the number of students passing the subjectincreased slightly, but a marked difference wasobserved respect to previous years in terms oftheir marks.

3. However, a longer-term observation throughoutseveral more academic years should beconsidered to drive more consistent conclusions.

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank the University of Valencia and the Project: UV-SFPIE_RMD17-589023. Proyecto de Innovación Docente Tecnología Farmacéutica II: Dr. Ug Delivery