A semester-long critical thinking course in the first semester of pharmacy school: Impact on critical thinking skills

Abstract

IntroductionTo determine whether critical thinking improved after student-pharmacists participated in a semester-long critical thinking course in the first semester of pharmacy school. MethodsStudents took the Health Sciences Reasoning Test-Numeracy (HSRT-N) on the first and last day of the course. The overall HSRT-N score, percentile ranking, and eight sub-categories within the HSRT-N (analysis, interpretation, inference, evaluation, explanation, induction, deduction, and numeracy) were evaluated. A multivariable quantile regression model evaluated the association between the post-test percentile and student age, at which campus the student was enrolled, and how many minutes the students required to take the test. ResultsThere were no significant differences in overall scores, percentile, or the sub-category scores with the exception of a significant increase in the analysis score and a significant decrease in the induction score. There was a greater increase for students in the lower quartiles on the pre-test compared to students in the higher quartiles on the pre-test. The largest percentile change occurred in students in the 25th–50th percentiles. ConclusionA statistically significant improvement in the analysis category of the HSRT-N and a greater increase for students in the lower quartiles on the pre-test to the post-test suggests students with the lowest quartiles on the HSRT-N would benefit the most from a critical thinking course.