(1086) Assessing Pharmacy Students’ Drug Card Knowledge Retention Rate Based on Practice Experience Through a Tactile Learning Experience with the Utilization of Gamification

Objectives: Pharmacy students are responsible for learning a plethora of drug information, but retention of this information can be quite a challenge. Therefore, efforts to improve student's learning experience are pivotal. Game-based learning offers an alternative approach to the traditional classroom setting by providing active participation, group collaboration, and critical thinking. Gamification is the incorporation of gaming elements into educational settings to enhance student’s interest, and motivation to learn. In addition, escape rooms offer a unique, team-based, mind-challenging experience. Having pharmacy technician work experience prior to pharmacy school introduces drugs and pertinent drug knowledge to students prior to enrolling in a pharmacy program. The aim of this study is to determine whether gamification can demonstrate that individuals with prior pharmacy experience retain more Top 200 drug card knowledge than student pharmacists without pharmacy experience.

Methods: The institutional review board approved this retrospective study designed to assess drug card knowledge retention of practice-experienced versus non-experienced individuals through the use of gamification. Pharmacy students enrolled in the P1 Laboratory course at South University were included in the study that took place on campus during a regularly scheduled lab course. Participants completed the validated learning preference assessment tool, VARK questionnaire to determine their preferred learning style. Participants were de-identified with a randomized number and divided into small groups of 5-6 based on their preferred learning style and previous pharmacy experience. Participants were asked to complete a brief pre- and post-survey as well as a pre- and post-knowledge assessment. The quizzes were graded and counted towards the student’s lab grade for that day. After completion of the pre-survey and pre-knowledge assessment, the students began the escape room activity. The escape room consisted of 6 timed obstacles for which students were given clues to help them solve puzzles and escape the room. Each obstacle focused on Top 200 Drug card information, which students were responsible for learning prior to the activity. If the group was not able to complete an obstacle in the allotted amount of time, they were advanced to the next obstacle and the timer for that obstacle was started. After finishing the last obstacle, students completed a post-survey and post-knowledge assessment. Differences in variables were analyzed by independent t-test. SPSS Version 28 was used to conduct the analysis. An alpha (α) error was set a priori at 0.05.

Results: A total of sixty-seven first-year pharmacy students participated in this study. Forty-six participants had prior practice experience of at least three months. The remaining twenty-one participants had less than three months of pharmacy practice experience. Assessment of drug card knowledge in pharmacy practice experienced versus non-pharmacy practice experienced participants prior to the intervention produced non-significant results (p=0.297). The opposing groups demonstrated that pharmacy practice-experienced participants have an increased ability to retain drug card knowledge following a tactile learning experience (p=0.012). Of significance, this study also found that participants with prior pharmacy technician experience demonstrated a higher completion rate of obstacles (p= < 0.001).

Conclusions: Working as a pharmacy technician prior to attending pharmacy school has advantages. The experience gives insight into the day-to-day operations and general flow of a pharmacy; meanwhile, exposing the student to various aspects of drug information. This study infers that students with prior pharmacy practice experience have an increased ability to retain drug card knowledge following a tactile learning experience by utilizing that knowledge in application-based scenarios. Therefore, tactile-based gamification experiences increase career readiness in student pharmacists with practice experience.