Students perception of an industry based approach problem based learning (PBL) and their performance in drug delivery courses

OBJECTIVE: To investigate students perception of an industry based approach problem based learning (PBL) and their performance in drug delivery courses in pharmaceutics. METHODS: PBL was implemented within two drug delivery courses in 2015, in anticipation that the use of formulation or industrial instead of clinical or pharmacy practice based triggers, would open up student interest and understanding towards learning pharmaceutics in relation to industrial pharmacy. Two cohorts were monitored through final year examination results and PBL feedback to evaluate student perception and acceptance of the use of PBL. Previous cohorts were only exposed to conventional tutorials. RESULTS: Both cohorts showed better performance in their final examination results (2015 & 2016) compared to the previous year (2014) when students were only exposed to tutorials. The maximum and average marks obtained were also higher. There was significant difference between the maximum marks for Drug Delivery Systems 2 and the average marks for Drug Delivery Systems 1 with P < 0.05. It was also noted that although the cGPA of student intake for Cohort 2014 is higher than Cohorts 2015 and 2016, the performance of students were better seen in the two latter cohorts. In addition, student feedback showed positive acquiescence towards using PBL as part of the course. CONCLUSIONS: Introduction of PBL in the drug delivery courses has shown to improve student academic performance either directly or indirectly by increasing student’s interest and understanding of the subjects taught. It also enhanced student soft skills and confidence. Students were happy with the implementation of PBL which improved their understanding of the subject, enhancing their abilities to think critically and improved their time management abilities.