Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 32759
The Attitude of Second Year Pharmacy Students towards Lectures, Exams and E-Learning

Authors: Ahmed T. Alahmar

Abstract:

There is an increasing trend toward student-centred interactive e-learning methods and students’ feedback is a valuable tool for improving learning methods. The aim of this study was to explore the attitude of second year pharmacy students at the University of Babylon, Iraq, towards lectures, exams and e-learning. Materials and methods: Ninety pharmacy students were surveyed by paper questionnaire about their preference for lecture format, use of e-files, theoretical lectures versus practical experiments, lecture and lab time. Students were also asked about their predilection for Moodle-based online exams, different types of exam questions, exam time and other extra academic activities. Results: Students prefer to read lectures on paper (73.3%), use of PowerPoint file (76.7%), short lectures of less than 10 pages (94.5%), practical experiments (66.7%), lectures and lab time of less than two hours (89.9% and 96.6 respectively) and intra-lecture discussions (68.9%). Students also like to have paper-based exam (73.3%), short essay (40%) or MCQ (34.4%) questions and also prefer to do extra activities like reports (22.2%), seminars (18.6%) and posters (10.8%). Conclusion: Second year pharmacy students have different attitudes toward traditional and electronic leaning and assessment methods. Using multimedia, e-learning and Moodle are increasingly preferred methods among some students.

Keywords: Pharmacy, students, lecture, exam, e-learning, Moodle.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1316011

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1360

References:


[1] E. Abdel Meguid and M. Collins, “Students’ perceptions of lecturing approaches: traditional versus interactive teaching,” Adv. Med. Educ. Pract., vol. 8, pp. 229–241, 2017.
[2] F. Moazami, E. Bahrampour, M. R. Azar, F. Jahedi, and M. Moattari, “Comparing two methods of education (virtual versus traditional) on learning of Iranian dental students: a post-test only design study,” BMC Med. Educ., vol. 14, no. 1, p. 45, Dec. 2014.
[3] N. O. Yakovleva and E. V. Yakovlev, “Interactive teaching methods in contemporary higher education,” Pacific Sci. Rev., vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 75–80, Jun. 2014.
[4] D. Kar, B. Mondal, and B. Saha, “Attitude of University Students towards E-learning in West Bengal,” Am. J. Educ. Res., vol. 2, no. 8, pp. 669–673, 2014.
[5] V. Visalam, A. Kumar, A. Prakash, and R. Padmavathi, “Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards E-Learning Among Medical Undergraduate Students,” IOSR J. Appl. Phys., vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 01–04, 2015.
[6] F. Alabdullaziz, M. Alanazy, S. Alyahya, and J. Gall, “Instructors’ and Learners’ Attitudes Toward e-learning within a College of Education,” in AECT International Convention, 2011.
[7] N. Sabah, “Students’ Attitude and Motivation Towards E-learning,” in First International Conference on Applied Sciences, 2013.
[8] S. Alkhanak and I. Azmi, “Information technology usage and attitudes towards online resources- Students perspective,” African J. Bus. Manag., vol. 5, no. 7, 2011.
[9] V. Vrana, C. Zafiropoulos, and G. Drogalas, “Analyzing students attitudes toward the adoption of elearinng: The case of technical vocational schools,” in 3rd International Conference on Education and Economic Development, At Preveza, Greece, 2013.
[10] M. Neo and T. Neo, “Students’ perceptions of interactive multimedia mediated web-based learning: A Malaysian perspective,” in Proceedings ascilite Melbourne, 2008.
[11] M. R. Sajid, A. F. Laheji, F. Abothenain, Y. Salam, D. AlJayar, and A. Obeidat, “Can blended learning and the flipped classroom improve student learning and satisfaction in Saudi Arabia?,” Int. J. Med. Educ., vol. 7, pp. 281–285, Sep. 2016.
[12] E. Bala, “A Study of Attitudes of Students towards Blended Learning, Iraqi Case,” Int. J. Soc. Sci. Educ. Stud., vol. 2, no. 4, 2016.
[13] H. Faraj and K. Hassan, “Survey Study about the Importance of e-Learning in Kurdistan, Iraq,” J. Kufa Math. Comput., vol. 4, no. 2, Oct. 2017.
[14] D. Doorn, S. Janssen, and M. Obrein, “Student Atitudes and Approaches to Online Homework,” Int. J. Scholarsh. Teach. Learn., vol. 4, no. 1, 2010.
[15] J. Round and B. Lom, “In Situ Teaching: Fusing Labs & Lectures in Undergraduate Science Courses to Enhance Immersion in Scientific Research.,” J. Undergrad. Neurosci. Educ., vol. 13, no. 3, pp. A206-14, 2015.
[16] N. Titterton and M. Clancy, “Adding some lab time is good, adding more must be better: the benefits and barriers to lab-centric courses.,” in Proceedings of the 2007 International Conference on Frontiers in Education: Computer Science & Computer Engineering, FECS, 2007.
[17] T. Thabit and S. Harjan, “Evaluate e-learning in Iraq applying on Avicenna Centre in Erbil,” Eur. Sci. J., vol. 2, 2015.
[18] A. N. Fahad, Z. Hassan, R. Sulaiman, and Z. Rahman, “Usability Evaluation of E-Learning Systems in the Iraqi Higher Education Institutions,” Int. J. Internet Things, vol. 4, no. 1A, 2015.
[19] B. Khan, Managing e-learning: Design, Delivery, Implementation and evaluation. Hershey PA: Information Science Publishing, 2005.
[20] D. Cohen and I. Sasson, “Online quizzes in a virtual learning environment as tool for formative assessment,” J. Technol. Sci. Educ., vol. 6, no. 3, 2013.
[21] J. Stephan and A. Omran, A. Ahmed, “Blended Learning Using Virtual Reality Environments,” Iraqi J. Comput. Informatics, vol. 43, no. 1, 2017.
[22] J. A. Philips, “Replacing traditional live lectures with online learning modules: Effects on learning and student perceptions,” Curr. Pharm. Teach. Learn., vol. 7, no. 6, 2015.
[23] D. Pepple, L. Young, and R. Carroll, “A comparison of student performance in multiple-choice and long essay questions in the MBBS stage I physiology examination at the University of the West Indies (Mona Campus),” AJP Adv. Physiol. Educ., vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 86–89, 2010.
[24] C. Chin and J. Osborne, “Students’ questions: a potential resource for teaching and learning science,” Stud. Sci. Educ., vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 1–39, Mar. 2008.