Application and assessment of a problem based research model to develop critical thinking skills in undergraduate pharmacy students in UCC

This research focused on the introduction of self-directed student research into the undergraduate curriculum of the PF4008 module, Novel Drug Delivery Systems for 4th year pharmacy students in UCC. A constructivist approach was utilised to actively engage students in their own learning by challenging them to think about experimental design and active research in the lab environment using a problem based practical research model in comparison to traditional lab practicals which can be prescriptive. One of the primary motivating factors for integrating the self-directed research activity was to develop independent higher order thinking by moving learning from lower cognitive skills to higher level skills of application, evaluation, design and analysis. Pharmacists have diverse careers path from clinical evaluation to developing new drug technologies hence there is an inherent need for graduates to be competent to research, assimilate and integrate information (both existing and new), apply it to trouble-shoot and logically solve problems that readily arise during ones profession.As part of the self-directed projects students were assigned research questions that reflected the focus of current research and which were in line with the module theme (Novel drug delivery). Students worked in small groups and were required to investigate the research question (problem), examine prior knowledge, develop learning outcomes to guide their investigations, design, organise and execute experiments, interpret the data and present their findings. A number of methods were employed including survey instruments, semi-structured interviews and observational methodologies to investigate the impact on student learning.Students displayed critical thinking through novel design; trouble-shooting and analysis. In addition to benefits in the cognitive and psychomotor domains, a positive impact on the affective domain was observed with students actively taking responsibility, acting independently, taking leadership roles and supporting the generation of a good group dynamic through effective communication and reasoning.