Ready or Not: Aligning assessments and program goals regarding practice readiness in the UBC Entry-to-Practice PharmD Program

Project Investigator: Neelam Dhaliwal, Lecturer, Office of Experiential Education, Pharmaceutical Sciences

Additional Applicants: George Pachev

Project Description

The intended study aims at supporting the alignment of assessments to the program’s goals regarding practice readiness by exploring on the faculty’s (faculty instructor’s and practice educator’s) conceptions of the “not ready” student, and evaluating the extent to which these conceptions are reflected in the measures of readiness. The study targets a potential misalignment indicated by the failure to identify, with the measures of practice readiness in the undergraduate E2P PharmD program, students not ready for practicum as judged by their practice educators.

Project Questions

  1. What are the faculty’s, faculty instructor’s and practice educator’s, conceptions of not being ready for practicum?
  2. Do the conceptions of these instructors and practice educators align? Program documents and exam blueprints reflect the conceptions of what it takes to be ready for practicum. (By purposefully framing the question in the negative, the investigators hope to avoid restating or re-focusing on the conceptions of “ready” for practicum.)

Impact on teaching and learning at UBC

Alignment of program goals, educational experiences and assessment is a fundamental principle of educational program development. By exploring the conceptions of practice readiness held by different groups of faculty involved in readiness assessment, the results of the study will inform and help improve the blueprint of the assessment program, as well as the teaching and learning practices of faculty instructors and practice educators. Additionally, although the direct results may not be readily transferable to other pharmacy schools, the approach taken here with regards to studying readiness for practicum would be.