Development and Implementation of Critical Thinking Assignments Throughout a Pharmacy Curriculum.
A summer workshop on critical thinking, spread over two months with follow-up implementation allowed an extended period of time for faculty to clarify teaching goals and provide group support for implementing change. Seven faculty, representative of several pharmacy disciplines, clarified critical thinking outcomes for their courses, practiced this approach in a faculty workshop, and piloted the approach in the following academic year. Written processes, visual models and class assignments were developed for Biochemistry— intermediary metabolism; Therapeutics—psychiatric case study; Pharmacy Management—inventory; Pharmaceutic—osmolality; Pathophysiology—congestive heart failure; Pharmaceutical Analysis—glucose monitoring test; and Pharmacy Administration—practice issues. The faculty workshop commenced with a one-day session with an outside consultant. This was followed by a series of sessions where workshop participants discussed and practiced the skills necessary to teach critical thinking, and two sessions where each participant prepared and presented a critical thinking process for a specific course. After feedback and discussion, each participant revised their critical thinking class assignments and briefly presented these at the final workshop session. The developed assignments were then pilot tested and evaluated throughout the following academic year. A full report of the results of the project was distributed to all schools of pharmacy which are members of AACP.