Student perceptions regarding a learner-centered pharmaceutical care course

Abstract

The pharmaceutical education has been changed by incorporating of new teaching methods. In this sense, assessment of students' perceptions about these teaching methods is essential for achieving the goal of providing students with the competences to pharmacy practice. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate pharmacy students’ perceptions of a pharmaceutical care course implementing learner-centered teaching. A pharmaceutical care course, using active learning methods, was introduced at the Federal University of Sergipe. Feedback concerning the students’ experiences with the newly developed course and information about their preferences regarding the learner-centered approach were collected. The resulting data were analyzed using a quali-quantitative approach.  In their evaluations of the course, most of the students (94.6%) indicated that they thought the lessons of the pharmaceutical care course had relevance for their professional/personal development. Furthermore, they indicated that the use of techniques such as role-play had helped to motivate their learning. The vast majority of the students reacted positively to the innovative course. They perceived the use of learner-centered methods as providing an appropriate environment for allowing students to demonstrate their pharmaceutical care competencies. The students’ responses also pointed to potential ways to improve the curriculum of the course.