Pharmacy Student Perspective of the Impact of Weekly Multicourse Collective Exams on Learning and Academic Behaviors in an Integrated Biological Sciences Course

Abstract

It is not uncommon for college students to have poor academic skills and behaviors. Often this results in poor academic outcomes. Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) degree program curricula, as most professional degree health programs, are typically comprised of heavy course loads each semester, often reaching 17-19 credit hours, and a heavy assessment burden. Typically, students “live” from exam to exam only preparing and studying for the exam directly ahead of them while neglecting concurrent courses. The negligent behavior consists of skipping class, lack of attention during class, and cramming for exams which often lead to poor outcomes on learning and retention. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the impact of weekly multicourse collective exams on learning and academic behaviors in a first semester integrated biological sciences (BSI) course within a Pharm.D program. The BSI course is a four credit course integrating biochemistry, cell biology, anatomy, and physiology. Traditionally, the summative assessments consisted of 3 exams given 3-4 weeks apart, and a cumulative final exam. With concurrent courses, students were taking at least one exam most weeks of the semester for one course or another. Weekly multicourse exams included questions, four per credit hour, from all first semester courses that traditionally included summative exams. Eight courses contributed questions, which amounted to 15 weekly exams of ~60 questions. No other summative assessments were given in any of the courses, other than individual course cumulative final exams; the final exams in each course were not collective. After completion of final exams, a Qualtrics survey with Likert scale questions was emailed to all students (89) who were enrolled in the BSI course. The response rate of the survey was 74%. Of those who responded, 5 earned an A grade in the BSI course, 18 a B grade, 29 a C grade, and 14 an F grade. The majority of students agreed or strongly agreed that the weekly collective exams, compared to a traditional exam schedule, encouraged them to study BSI more frequently (94%) and most days of the week (85%), reduced the likelihood of skipping class (70%), and increased likelihood to pay attention and engage in class (71%). From observance by the course professors, these academic behaviors significantly improved compared to previous years utilizing a traditional exam schedule. The majority of students also believed that the weekly collective exams enabled them to better learn (77%) and retain (53%) the BSI material. An overwhelming majority specified that they liked the weekly collective exam schedule for BSI (82%) and they preferred it over a traditional exam schedule (80%). In conclusion, the weekly multicourse collective exams, as compared to a traditional exam schedule, improved academic behaviors and was well received by students. Students believed that their learning and retention of BSI course material also improved.