Abstract
AbstractThis study investigates pharmacy students’ reasoning while solving a case task concerning an acute patient counselling situation in a pharmacy. Participants’ (N = 34) reasoning processes were investigated with written tasks utilizing eye-tracking in combination with verbal protocols. The case was presented in three pages, each page being followed by written questions. Eye movements were recorded during case processing. Success in the task required differentiating the relevant information from the task redundant information, and initial activation of several scripts and verification of the most likely one, when additional information became available. 2nd (n = 16) and 3rd (n = 18)-year students’ and better and worse succeeding students’ processes were compared. The results showed that only a few 2nd-year students solved the case correctly, whereas almost all of the 3rd-year students were successful. Generally, the average total processing times of the case material did not differ between the groups. However, better-succeeding and 3rd-year students processed the very first task-relevant sentences longer, indicating that they were able to focus on relevant information. Differences in the written answers to the 2nd and 3rd question were significant, whereas differences regarding the first question were not. Thus, eye-tracking seems to be able to capture illness script activation during case processing, but other methods are needed to depict the script verification process. Based on the results, pedagogical suggestions for advancing pharmacy education are discussed.
Funder
Research Funds of the University of Helsinki
University of Helsinki including Helsinki University Central Hospital
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Education,General Medicine
Reference50 articles.
1. Algarni, M., Hadi, M. A., Yahyouche, A., Mahmood, S., & Jalal, Z. (2021). A mixed-methods systematic review of the prevalence, reasons, associated harms and risk-reduction interventions of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines misuse, abuse and dependence in adults. Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, 14, 76. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40545-021-00350-7
2. Arisudhana, G. A. B. (2022). The effects of illness script method on clinical reasoning of undergraduate nursing students: A quasi-experimental study. Jurnal Ners, 17(1), 83–88. https://doi.org/10.20473/jn.v17i1.32565
3. Berger, T. (2019). Using eye-tracking to for analyzing case study materials. The International Journal of Management Education, 17(2), 304–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2019.05.002
4. Boshuizen, H. P. A., & Schmidt, H. G. (2008). The development of clinical reasoning expertise; implications for teaching. In: J. Higgs, M. Jones, S. Loftus, & N. Christensen (Eds.), Clinical reasoning in the health professions (3rd comp. rev. ed.). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann/Elsevier.
5. Boshuizen, H. P. A., Gruber, H. & Strasser, J. (2020). Knowledge restructuring through case processing: The key to generalise expertise development theory across domains? Educational Research Review, 29, Article 100310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100310