A Web-Based Practice Examination to Improve Student Performance Concerning the 200 Most Prescribed Drugs

Abstract

Background. User-friendly technology has increased the ability of faculty to develop course web sites and has expanded ways to communicate with students. The benefits of technology must be weighed against the resources needed to use such tools. This article provides an overview of the features of WebCT, a web-based educational tool, along with a study that evaluated whether a voluntary, Internet-based practice examination developed using WebCT improved pharmacy student performance on a traditional paper and pencil format examination. Methods. A retrospective comparison was made of the number of attempts needed to pass the actual examination, the pass rate at each attempt, and the percentage correct on each attempt between those who did and did not use the practice examination. The presence of a correlation between GPA and the number of times required to pass, and the percent correct were also evaluated. Results. A majority of students (65%) took the practice examination. While there was a trend towards better performance by those who took the practice examination, the results were generally not statistically significant (P > 0.05). No significant correlation was found between GPA and examination performance. Conclusion. Further study is needed to assess whether such Internet-based tools can improve student performance.