Incorporating physical manipulatives into an integrated pharmacotherapy course to reinforce antimicrobial spectrum of activity

Abstract

Background and purposeTeaching and learning the spectrum of activity (SOA) of antimicrobial agents can be a challenge in pharmacy education. This study describes the implementation and assessment of a novel tool to aid in the instruction of SOA. Physical manipulatives were used as an active-learning technique to model bacterial pathogens for antimicrobial SOA in an infectious diseases (ID) integrated medication therapy management course. Educational activity and settingPharmacy students enrolled in two consecutive years of the ID course were provided the opportunity to utilize a set of manipulatives for in-class activities and out-of-class practice. The manipulatives were small, colored building blocks that could be used to model bacterial pathogens for antimicrobial SOA. A key was included with each set of blocks, color-coding each block to represent a different bacterial pathogen or pathogen group. Blocks were used during classroom instruction to model the SOA of antimicrobial agents, compare/contrast SOA between medications, and model bacterial pathogens requiring empiric coverage for various infections, allowing students to produce “bug-drug” matches. Course data from the previous year was utilized to compare pre-implementation aggregate performance with post-implementation data. Performance on SOA-related questions was assessed during the course, using an independent samples t-test. FindingsThe intervention group exhibited a statistically significant increased mean score on test questions relating to SOA as compared to the control group. SummaryThe use of manipulatives was associated with improved performance on SOA-related questions in an integrated ID course of pharmacy students.