IPSIndian Journal of Pharmacology
Home  IPS  Feedback Subscribe Top cited articles Login 
Users Online : 574 
Small font sizeDefault font sizeIncrease font size
Navigate Here
  Search
 
  
Resource Links
 »  Similar in PUBMED
 »  Search Pubmed for
 »  Search in Google Scholar for
 »Related articles
 »  Article in PDF (457 KB)
 »  Citation Manager
 »  Access Statistics
 »  Reader Comments
 »  Email Alert *
 »  Add to My List *
* Registration required (free)

 
In This Article
 »  Abstract
 » Introduction
 »  Materials and Me...
 » Results
 » Discussion
 »  References
 »  Article Figures
 »  Article Tables

 Article Access Statistics
    Viewed3868    
    Printed216    
    Emailed0    
    PDF Downloaded134    
    Comments [Add]    
    Cited by others 5    

Recommend this journal

 


 
 Table of Contents    
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Year : 2012  |  Volume : 44  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 253-256
 

Cooperative learning with role play in Chinese pharmacology education


Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan - 430065, China

Date of Submission17-Oct-2011
Date of Decision24-Nov-2011
Date of Acceptance17-Dec-2011
Date of Web Publication16-Mar-2012

Correspondence Address:
Jun Wang
Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan - 430065
China
Login to access the Email id

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/0253-7613.93862

Rights and Permissions

 » Abstract 

Background: Cooperative learning (CL) and role play are both efficient educational tools for enhancing Chinese student active learning and communication skills.
Objective: This study was designed to obtain student feedback on the format of CL together with role play in the study of pharmacology in Chinese pharmaceutical undergraduates.
Materials and Methods: CL was used in the self-study of new drugs used clinically but neglected in textbook and class teaching, so that groups of students were assigned to become ''specialists'' in one area of new drugs. Then, these ''specialists'' taught their new-found knowledge to other groups in role play approach involving an interaction between the pharmacist and a patient. Student perceptions of CL together with role play were examined using an eight-item survey instrument.
Results: Students were satisfied with CL together with role play. Majority of the students believed this teaching method enhanced their learning experience, made them gain more pharmacological expertise, increased the awareness of their career in future and self-educational abilities, and fostered their cooperation spirit and confidence. The materials on CL and role play were also believed pertinent. Only 63.4-76.5% and 63.1-37.3% of the students thought "CL and role-play were very funny" and "I felt very relaxed during CL together with role-play", respectively.
Conclusion: CL together with role play is an efficient educational tool for enhancing student active-learning and communication skills. But Chinese students will take some time to adapt to this new teaching method.


Keywords: Cooperative learning, pharmacology, role-play, teaching


How to cite this article:
Wang J, Hu X, Xi J. Cooperative learning with role play in Chinese pharmacology education. Indian J Pharmacol 2012;44:253-6

How to cite this URL:
Wang J, Hu X, Xi J. Cooperative learning with role play in Chinese pharmacology education. Indian J Pharmacol [serial online] 2012 [cited 2023 Sep 29];44:253-6. Available from: https://www.ijp-online.com/text.asp?2012/44/2/253/93862



 » Introduction Top


In Chinese pharmaceutical undergraduate education, the reform and innovation of teaching methods have great importance. In the past, much of the material delivered to students is through ''presentation'' of factual information via passive teaching methods, which are called "lecture-based teaching'' or "duck-stuffing teaching methods". But with continuous development of higher education and healthcare in China, conversion of training objective in pharmaceutical education to undergraduates was presented. "Student-centered" and active-learning methods are greatly encouraged. A lot of innovative approaches have been taken to engage pharmaceutical students in the learning process and enhance their learning experience in China.

Adopting up-to-date methods is more urgent for pharmacology teachers. Pharmacology embraces rich contents involving over 100 drugs and related knowledge including mechanisms of drug action, numerous detailed facts about drug classes and individual compounds, and even the diseases for which the various drugs are used. [1] Students avoid pharmacology, and perceive it as a more "difficult" learning area than other subjects in the undergraduate curriculum. So, teaching pharmacology to students has been a challenge. [2],[3] Also, a variety of new drugs are emerging with information about their mechanisms and other information increasing. Education of pharmacology needs to be radically reformed to contribute to better professional medical services and new drug development. [4] Usually only the prototypes of various drug groups are introduced in detail for the students owing to the limited teaching hours in China. The information about new drugs is usually insufficiently imparted. On the other hand, as healthcare professionals, pharmacists who are often decision makers in settings ranging from patient care to managed care often consult the literature to determine, for example, current practice guidelines or drug interactions or dosing. [5] Thus, pharmaceutical students should also be capable of conducting systematic searches using medical or health references to formulate responses to queries on drug information. Hence, the curriculum of pharmacology should also aim to instill students with the ability to critically analyze information and apply this knowledge to novel scenarios. Accordingly, innovative teaching methods are worth exploring in pharmacology teaching. In the present study, we have applied CL in the study of new drugs while role play has been applied in the exhibition of the results of CL. The assignment of CL introduced students to references for new drug information that are relevant to modern pharmacy practice. Searching these references would be a daunting task for an individual student, thus, a CL approach was taken. CL most often involves small groups of students who contribute to each other's learning [6] and encourage students to work together to achieve success rather than compete for a grade. [7],[8] In our study, the purpose of CL was to promote analytical skills for use of new drug information, then assign groups of students to become ''specialists'' in one area of new drugs. Then, these ''specialists'' teach their new-found knowledge to other groups in role-play approaches involving the interaction between the pharmacist and a patient. [9] In pharmacy, role play as a simulation methodology has been used primarily as a useful tool for developing essential patient-care skills, including communication, information- gathering, obtaining patient history, making an assessment and recommendation, and counseling patients regarding nonprescription medications. [10],[11]


 » Materials and Methods Top


Two groups of undergraduates enrolled in the pharmacology course, in the third year of their pharmaceutical degree at Wuhan University of Science and Technology completed CL with role play. The study was approved by the Teaching Affairs Office (Medical College of Wuhan University of Science and Technology). The first group, the graduating class of 2011, was enrolled in fall 2007. The second group, the graduating class of 2012, was enrolled in fall 2008. CL together with role play was used in the pharmacological study of three chapters including drugs acting on peripheral and central nervous and the cardiovascular system.

After review of each chapter, CL together with role play was carried on for 30 min. CL project was implemented based on six-stage model of group investigation. [12] The role play was carried out according to the process used in patient care workshops for pharmacy students [10] [Figure 1].
Figure 1: Profile of cooperative learning with role-play used in Chinese pharmaceutical undergraduates' pharmacology-teaching

Click here to view


At the end of the course, students' opinions were evaluated with survey instruments. An anonymous survey instrument was developed to assess students' perceptions of CL together with role play as a tool to enhance active-learning and communication skills. The instrument was composed of 8 statements [Table 1] with a 5-point Likert scale used for responses (5, 1- strongly disagree to 5 -strongly agree). The items ''CL together with role play enhanced my learning experience'' were designed to measure the students' perception of CL together with role play as a way to enhance their learning experience. The items ''Learned more pharmacological expertise because of CL together with role play,'' ''CL together with role play enhanced my awareness of the career in future,'' "CL together with role play raised my self-educated ability'' and "CL together with role play fostered my cooperation spirit and confidence" were developed to capture students' idea of why they believed CL together with role play provided an enhanced learning experience. The remaining three items "The materials on CL and role play were pertinent" "CL and role play were very funny" and "I felt very relaxed during CL together with role play" were administered to examine whether the students liked the particular executive form of CL together with role play. In addition to the 8 survey items, students were asked to provide additional comments about CL together with role play if they desired. All the decisions were made based on the comparison with traditional teaching received in other professional courses.
Table 1: Student perceptions of CL together with role play as a tool to study pharmacology (n=103)

Click here to view



 » Results Top


All the students in both groups participated actively during CL together with role play. They were motivated to make adequate preparations, demonstrated enthusiasm, and were highly engaged in the process.

All students (103) completed the survey instrument. The perceptions of CL together with role play of both groups were similar [Table 1]. Student course evaluations related to CL together with role play were overwhelmingly positive. Their responses to the survey captured the multiple benefits of CL together with role play as supplements to traditional lecture formats. They strongly supported the application of CL and role play in the class. Only 1.9-3.8% disagreed, but not strongly with the idea that CL and role play enhanced their learning experience, some of whose additional comments were filled with "I'm not used to study in this way" or "I am accustomed to traditional teaching" and so on.

The vast majority of the students agreed or strongly agreed that CL and role play helped them learn more pharmacological expertise, enhanced the awareness of their career in future, raised their self-educating abilities; and fostered their cooperation spirit and confidence. Collectively, most of the students believed that this teaching method was an active-learning instructional tool is helpful to improve the overall quality of the undergraduates.

Besides, 82.7-96.1% of the students believed that the material on CL and role play was pertinent. Interestingly, only 63.4-76.5% and 63.1-37.3% of the students thought "CL and role play were very funny" and "I felt very relaxed during CL together with role play", respectively.


 » Discussion Top


Both CL and role play are helpful for enhancing student active-learning and communication skills. [7],[8],[10],[11] Although it was difficult in CL to distinguish between individual and group performance, role play provided the opportunity for students to receive individualized attention. In this way, the two methods not only enhanced student learning and communication skills together, but also complemented each other. Driven by the "showing their self" in role play, students must be active in CL which is a bit boring for some students. In our study, the new teaching method of CL together with role play achieved good results reflected from the student responses to the 8-question survey. Nevertheless, as a kind of enjoyable teaching method easy to be implemented, CL together with role play is also appropriate for a wider audience beyond China.

Yet, some issues have been detected in the survey which cannot be neglected. For example, 3.9-17.3% of the students did not believe that the material on CL and role play was pertinent. In fact, the materials on CL and role play in our study were all new drugs which were often neglected in lecture-based teaching. So some students might not consider these new drugs as important. But as the drugs are used clinically, these materials should be taken seriously.

Most interestingly, only only 63.4-76.5% and 63.1-37.3% of the students thought "CL and role play were very funny" and "I felt very relaxed during CL together with role play", respectively. CL provides an enjoyable and nonthreatening environment in which they can receive help from their peers. [9] And role play is also an interesting teaching learning method. [10] But why so many students felt different about the format of CL together with role play in China? In the traditional teaching class of elementary school, high school, or college in China, students only need to listen to a lecture passively. However, CL as an active-learning tool, and role play as the format of self-expression would perhaps embarrass the students or make them nervous. The students reasoned that, they are "not accustomed to study in this way." Teaching reforms to encourage active-learning and self-expression is necessary for helping students to overcome these inhibitions. Perhaps faculty members could also help provide a more relaxed environment for students during such innovative methods. Promoting teacher-student communication after class, building a "pleasant teacher" image, injecting humor into the role play, and decreasing the difficulty of topic appropriately, etc., would also help implement this method more effectively.

We suggest that CL together with role play should be a supplement to traditional learning with a limited time of 30 min allowed after each chapter. A right guidance from teachers is necessary to overcome the reluctance to adopt the novel idea of learning. Thus teachers need to assist the students as they attempt to unravel the learning issues and act like a coach or facilitator for the student. Actually, we provided ongoing explanation and support to students via the discussion board. Moreover, the CL topic and progress arrangement should be adequately prepared in advance considering students' interest and ability. It is likely that students need some guidance in working in a group. In the role play process, faculty guides are also important. It is essential for the educator to work with the students to guide their reflection on CL together with role play.

 
 » References Top

1.Michel MC, Bischoff A, Jakobs KH. Comparison of problem-and lecture-based pharmacology teaching. Trends Pharmacol Sci 2002;23:168-70.  Back to cited text no. 1
[PUBMED]  [FULLTEXT]  
2.Halliday AC, Devonshire IM, Greenfield SA, Dommett EJ. Teaching medical students basic neurotransmitter pharmacology using primary research resources. Adv Physiol Educ 2010;34:205-12.  Back to cited text no. 2
[PUBMED]  [FULLTEXT]  
3.Badyal DK, Bala S, Kathuria P. Student evaluation of teaching and assessment methods in pharmacology. Indian J Pharmacol 2010;42:87-9.  Back to cited text no. 3
[PUBMED]  Medknow Journal  
4.Tanaka M, Misawa M. Proposals for innovative pharmacology education from the perspective of several fields-in response to rapidly changing times. Nihon Yakurigaku Zasshi 2000;116:163-70.  Back to cited text no. 4
[PUBMED]    
5.Earl GL. Using cooperative learning for a drug information assignment. Am J Pharm Educ 2009;73:132.  Back to cited text no. 5
[PUBMED]  [FULLTEXT]  
6.Bonwell CC, Eison JA. Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom. Washington, DC: American ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1; George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development; 1991.  Back to cited text no. 6
    
7.Johnson DW, Johnson RT. Making cooperative learning work. Theory Pract 1999;38:1-73.  Back to cited text no. 7
    
8.Seifert K, Fenster A, Dilts JA, Temple L. An investigative, cooperative learning approach to the general microbiology laboratory. CBE Life Sci Educ 2009;8:147-53.  Back to cited text no. 8
[PUBMED]  [FULLTEXT]  
9.Armstrong N, Chang SM, Brickman M. Cooperative learning in industrial-sized biology classes. CBE Life Sci Educ 2007;6:163-71.  Back to cited text no. 9
[PUBMED]  [FULLTEXT]  
10.Rao D. Skills development using role-play in a first-year pharmacy practice course. Am J Pharm Educ 2011;75:84.  Back to cited text no. 10
[PUBMED]  [FULLTEXT]  
11.Nestel D, Tierney T. Role-play for medical students learning about communication: Guidelines for maximising benefits. BMC Med Educ 2007;7:3.  Back to cited text no. 11
[PUBMED]  [FULLTEXT]  
12.Slavin RE. Cooperative Learning: Theory, Research, and Practice. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon; 2000.  Back to cited text no. 12
    


    Figures

  [Figure 1]
 
 
    Tables

  [Table 1]

This article has been cited by
1 Exploring the experience of nursing undergraduates in using gamification teaching mode based on the flow theory in nursing research: A qualitative study
Lu Han, Qiongya Cao, Tianqu Xie, Xiangxu Chen, Yanqun Liu, Jinbing Bai
Nurse Education Today. 2021; 107: 105158
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
2 Cebir Ögrenme Alaninda Probleme Dayali Isbirlikli Ögrenmenin Akademik Basariya Ve Edinilen Bilgilerin Kaliciligina Etkisi
Elif ÇELIK, Ahmet ISIK
Erzincan Üniversitesi Egitim Fakültesi Dergisi. 2021;
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
3 Effects of a Cooperative Learning Strategy on the Effectiveness of Physical Fitness Teaching and Constraining Factors
Tsui-Er Lee
Mathematical Problems in Engineering. 2014; 2014: 1
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
4 A Comparative Study to Evaluate the Educational Impact of E-Learning Tools on Griffith University Pharmacy Students’ Level of Understanding Using Bloom’s and SOLO Taxonomies
Abdullah Karaksha,Gary Grant,S. Niru Nirthanan,Andrew K. Davey,Shailendra Anoopkumar-Dukie
Education Research International. 2014; 2014: 1
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
5 Active learning for discovery and innovation in criminology with Chinese learners
Jessica C. M. Li,Joseph Wu
Innovations in Education and Teaching International. 2013; : 1
[Pubmed] | [DOI]



 

Top
Print this article  Email this article
 

    

Site Map | Home | Contact Us | Feedback | Copyright and Disclaimer | Privacy Notice
Online since 20th July '04
Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow