Abstract
In the undergraduate Pharmacy program at the department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, an educational model is used that is aimed at the development of deep and self-regulating learning. It is, however, unknown whether these objectives are realized. The aim of this study was to assess longitudinal changes in processing and regulation strategies of student learning during their progression in the curriculum, that is explicitly based on constructivist principles. Processing strategies (deep vs. stepwise), regulation strategies (self- vs. external), conceptions of learning and orientations to learning were measured with the Inventory of Learning patterns of Students (ILS). Longitudinal data are reported here for students, of which data are available for year 1/2 and year 4/5 (n = 90). The results demonstrate that the use of deep processing (critical thinking in particular, effect size = 0.94), stepwise processing (analyzing in particular, effect size = 0.55) and concrete processing strategies (effect size = 0.78) increases between the bachelor phase (year 1/2) and the master phase (year 4/5). This change is based on the students having a constructivist view about the nature of learning and is mediated through a relatively large increase in the use of self-regulating strategies (effect size = 0.75). We conclude that this six-year undergraduate Pharmacy program effectively stimulates the development of deep and self-regulated learning strategies in pharmacy students.
Highlights
Pharmacy education, similar to other health care education programs, aims for the development of a reflective, self-directed practitioner that is committed to life-long learning, is well embedded in a professional environment, and who can bear independent responsibility for pharmaceutical patient care [1,2]
When analyzed on a deeper level, the change in deep processing appears to be exclusively a result of a change in critical processing; no change is seen in the ils01 scale relating and structuring
Relatively minor changes are seen in the surface approach to learning, as expressed by a small increase in stepwise processing, which is caused by an increase in analyzing rather than an increase in memorizing and rehearsing
Summary
Similar to other health care education programs, aims for the development of a reflective, self-directed practitioner that is committed to life-long learning, is well embedded in a professional environment, and who can bear independent responsibility for pharmaceutical patient care [1,2]. The epistemic cognitive development of students from dualism to contextual relativism typically occurs during the progression of students in undergraduate education [5], with the crucial transition to early contextual relativistic thinking at the advanced bachelor or early master level [9,10,11]. Developmental trajectories for individual students can be very different from each other, resulting in large inter-individual variation [9,10] and recent studies have demonstrated that characteristics of the teaching/learning environment, including the role of teachers, can influence the development of student thinking [12,13,14]. In recent studies, where conventional, lecture-based, teacher-centered medical curricula were compared with more innovative, problem-based and/or integrated, student-centered curricula, it was demonstrated that deep learning and self-regulation processes are stimulated in the innovative curricula, compared to the conventional curricula [16,17,18].
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