Incorporation of content delivery via an online course management system in an introductory physiology course for pharmacy students

Abstract

Due to the substantial amount of content included in the semester‐long introductory physiology course for second‐year pharmacy students, it was desirable to improve efficiency of content delivery. Typical lectures in this physiology course traditionally include both the anatomy and physiology of each system. Students complete anatomy coursework as a prerequisite and thus often find that the physiology component is more difficult to grasp than the anatomy component; however, the more time that is spent discussing anatomy and basic components decreases the amount of time that can be used for the complex concepts. Thus, we sought to allocate more in‐class time to focusing on challenging concepts. The solution was to re‐assign anatomy and basic physiology content to 20‐ to 30‐minute pre‐class lectures recorded using Camtasia Studio and stored in the course management system and available for viewing at any time. Students are required to view a lecture at the beginning of each new topic of physiology prior to the class period for which it is assigned; a short quiz is administered at the beginning of class to ensure student viewing and understanding of the material. Time in class is thus devoted to discussion of the more difficult concepts. The result is a course incorporating online content delivery through a course management system and in‐class content delivery, as well as in‐class active learning. Support: STLCOP