Assessing development in critical thinking: One institution's experience

The impact of critical thinking skills on student pharmacist GPA at a historically Black university

INTRODUCTION

Limited information is available regarding whether malleable factors such as critical thinking skills are associated with academic performance among underrepresented minority pharmacy students. This study assessed the relationship between critical thinking skills and grade point average (GPA) among pharmacy students attending a Historically Black College.

METHODS

A cross sectional study design was utilized to evaluate the association between student's GPA and critical thinking skills. Demographic data and GPA were abstracted from student records. The health sciences reasoning test with numeracy was administered to pharmacy students at Howard University during the 2017 to 2018 academic year. Critical thinking scores were classified as weak, moderate, or strong/superior. A one way analysis of variance was conducted to ascertain if the average GPA differed based on critical thinking skills category. A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to determine whether student's critical thinking skill category was associated with the cumulative GPA after accounting for other factors.

RESULTS

Among 217 students, the mean GPA among students with a weak critical thinking skills score (3.22 ± 0.40) was lower compared to students with a strong/superior score (3.39 ± 0.33) with a p-value of 0.029. After adjusting for other factors, a strong/superior critical thinking skills score was associated with a higher GPA (p-value = 0.024) in comparison to weak critical thinking skills.

CONCLUSION

Stronger critical thinking skills scores are associated with better academic performance among underrepresented minority pharmacy students.

Critical thinking disposition of nursing students: A quantitative investigation

AIM

The aim of this study was to assess the critical thinking (CT) disposition of students in a nursing school. This assessment is part of a larger study aimed at developing a CT-based curriculum framework for an undergraduate nursing educational program in a developing country.

DESIGN

A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional design was used to assess the CT disposition of undergraduate nursing students. This cross-sectional study identified strengths and weaknesses of nursing students relative to critical thinking mindset.

METHODS

The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) was used to assess the CT disposition of 112 undergraduate nursing students from March to May 2018. The CCTDI contains 75 items of six-point Likert scale of seven subscales. Data were analyzed through the use of descriptive statistics, the independent t-test and ANOVA.

RESULTS

Most participants (73%) demonstrated a positive inclination towards critical thinking on the overall CCTDI score. Students' mean score was highest on the confidence in reasoning subscale while lowest on truth-seeking. A statistically significant difference (p = 0.03) was found in the years of study on the inquisitiveness subscale.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate the need for educators to devise strategies to assist students to seek accurate information building on students' positive CT disposition.

Development of critical thinking in health professions education: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies

INTRODUCTION

While reports of critical thinking exist in the health professions literature, development of critical thinking across a broad range of health-professions students has not been systematically reviewed.

METHODS

In this meta-analysis, multiple databases and journals were searched through February 2016 to identify longitudinal studies using standardized tests of critical thinking [California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST), Health Science Reasoning Test (HSRT), and Defining Issues Test (DIT)] in any language. Two reviewers extracted information and collected information regarding primary author, publishing journal, health profession, critical thinking test, and time1/time2 means and standard deviations. Standardized mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported using a random-effects model.

RESULTS

Four hundred sixty-two studies were screened, and 79 studies (representing 6884 students) were included. Studies contained 37 CCTST, 22 DIT, and 20 HSRT. Health professions comprised nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, dentistry, medicine, veterinary medicine, dental hygiene, clinical laboratory sciences, and allied health. Cohen's kappa was strong (0.82) for inter-reviewer agreement. Both the CCTST (SMD = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.23-0.52) and DIT (SMD = 0.28, 95%CI = 0.18-0.39) demonstrated significant increases in total scores, but the HSRT (SMD = 0.03, 95%CI = -0.05-0.12) did not show improvement.

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS

In this meta-analysis, students from the majority of health professions consistently showed improvement in development of critical thinking. In this diverse population, only the CCTST and DIT appeared responsive to change.

An investigation of final year pharmacy students' moral reasoning ability, and their views on professionalism and fitness to practice panel determinations: A questionnaire study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The aim was to establish pharmacy students' moral reasoning ability and obtain their views on professionalism and fitness to practice (FtP) determinations involving pharmacists.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING

Following ethical approval and piloting, final year pharmacy students at Queen's University Belfast (QUB) (n=119) were invited to participate in a questionnaire study. Section A was a validated moral reasoning assessment tool [Defining Issues Test (DIT2); five moral dilemmas], Section B was FtP cases and professionalism. Distribution occurred at a compulsory class. DIT2 data were scored by the University of Alabama. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests were used with significance level set at 0.05 a priori.

FINDINGS

The response rate was 94.1% (112/119) and the 'DIT2 P score mean' (postconventional schema) was 25.21±14.10. Almost all [(98.2% (110/112)] fully understood the term "professionalism" and 83.9% (94/112) considered it reasonable for a professional code to apply always (within university and out socializing). Differences in opinions existed depending on what the FtP case related to. Students were significantly more likely to consider a 12-month suspension 'very lenient' or 'lenient' for a pharmacist's personal use of illicit drugs compared with theft of money/cosmetics (42.0% versus 64.3%; p=0.031). There were no significant differences between male and female responses/scores and no strong correlations between DIT2 scores and FtP/professionalism responses.

DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY

Pharmacy students appeared to understand professionalism and accepted being bound by a code. A level of discrimination between the FtP cases was evident. Moral reasoning ability was lower than expected for future healthcare professionals (see manuscript) requiring attention.

A Mixed-Methods Analysis in Assessing Students' Professional Development by Applying an Assessment for Learning Approach

Objective. To describe an approach for assessing the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education's (ACPE) doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) Standard 4.4, which focuses on students' professional development. Methods. This investigation used mixed methods with triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data to assess professional development. Qualitative data came from an electronic developmental portfolio of professionalism and ethics, completed by PharmD students during their didactic studies. Quantitative confirmation came from the Defining Issues Test (DIT)-an assessment of pharmacists' professional development. Results. Qualitatively, students' development reflections described growth through this course series. Quantitatively, the 2015 PharmD class's DIT N2-scores illustrated positive development overall; the lower 50% had a large initial improvement compared to the upper 50%. Subsequently, the 2016 PharmD class confirmed these average initial improvements of students and also showed further substantial development among students thereafter. Conclusion. Applying an assessment for learning approach, triangulation of qualitative and quantitative assessments confirmed that PharmD students developed professionally during this course series.