Evaluation of an evidence-based peer teaching assessment program.

OBJECTIVE: To determine faculty perceptions about an evidence-based peer teaching assessment system. METHODS: Faculty members who served as instructors and assessors completed questionnaires after year 1 (2002-2003) and year 4 (2005-2006) of the peer assessment program. Factors were evaluated using a Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree) and included logistics, time, fostering quality teaching, diversifying teaching portfolios, faculty mentoring, and value of structured discussion of teaching among faculty members. Mean responses from instructors and assessors were compared using student t tests. RESULTS: Twenty-seven assessors and 52 instructors completed survey instruments. Assessors and instructors had positive perceptions of the process as indicated by the following mean (SD) scores: logistics = 4.0 (1.0), time = 3.6 (1.1), quality teaching = 4.0 (0.9), diversifying teaching portfolios = 3.6 (1.2), faculty mentoring = 3.9 (0.9), and structured discussion of teaching = 4.2 (0.8). Assessors agreed more strongly than instructors that the feedback provided would improve the quality of lecturing (4.5 vs. 3.9, p < 0.01) and course materials (4.3 vs. 3.6, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: This peer assessment process was well-accepted and provided a positive experience for the participants. Faculty members perceived that the quality of their teaching would improve and enjoyed the opportunity to have structured discussions about teaching.

Design and Implementation of a Video-based Clinical Examination.

OBJECTIVES: To (1) describe the development of a Video-based Clinical Examination (VCE) as a formal testing format to evaluate student ability to make an accurate pharmaceutical assessment and recommendation, and (2) determine student perception of the VCE testing format. METHODS: Descriptive study of first-year pharmacy students. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-nine students were included in the study. Students perceived that the VCE testing format provided a real life/interactive environment but felt rushed as the video segments of the patient/pharmacist interaction occurred quickly. IMPLICATIONS: Based on the findings of this project, we will continue to pursue further research related to validity, reliability and application of VCEs. However, the University of Colorado will continue to incorporate VCEs in the performance based evaluations in the Professional Skills Development 1 course, as it appears to be an effective stepping-stone for first-year students to begin developing their active listening, higher level learning and problem-solving skills. Results of this project will be shared with the faculty and curriculum committee at the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy to encourage further use and research of VCEs in other courses.

A comparison of pharmacy students' confidence and test performance.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to estimate student retention of knowledge regarding the management of patients with hypertension and dyslipidemia, measure student clinical confidence, and identify the relationship between clinical confidence and actual performance on a knowledge assessment test. METHODS: This was a sequential cross-sectional study to evaluate knowledge retention and clinical confidence of second-year pharmacy students. To measure student clinical confidence, a 12-item clinical confidence questionnaire was administered. To measure student retention of knowledge, a 21-question knowledge assessment test was administered. At least 1 test question was related to each question asked in the clinical confidence questionnaire. RESULTS: One hundred eight students completed the study. The percentage of students correctly answering test questions decreased from a baseline of 70.4% +/- 5.8% to 60.9% +/- 5.8% four months later (p = 0.02) in spite of the students rating their clinical confidence from moderate to high in all areas. The proportion of students answering questions correctly was similar across the different levels of confidence. CONCLUSION: Overall, retention of knowledge appears to decline over a 4-month period of time. Furthermore, while students perceived moderate to high confidence, student knowledge did not match perceived confidence.

QUANTITATIVE GENETICS OF THE WING COLOR PATTERN IN THE BUCKEYE BUTTERFLY (PRECIS COENIA AND PRECIS EVARETE): EVIDENCE AGAINST THE CONSTANCY OF G.

Models for the evolution of continuously varying traits use heritabilities, genetic correlations, and the G-matrix to quantify the genetic variation upon which selection acts. Given estimates of these parameters, it is possible to predict the long-term effects of selection, infer past selective forces responsible for observed differences between populations or species, and distinguish the effects of drift from selection. Application of these methods, however, requires the unproven assumption that the G-matrix remains constant from one generation to the next. This study examines the assumption of constancy for the wing pattern characteristics of two sibling species of butterflies, Precis coenia and P. evarete (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Quantitative genetic parameters were estimated from parent-offspring regression. Two approaches were taken to test the null hypothesis of equality between species. First, pairwise tests between corresponding elements of G and between heritabilities and genetic correlations for the two species were constructed. Second, a modification of Bartlett's modified likelihood-ratio test was used to test for equality between the G-matrices. The matrix test failed to detect any between species differences. In contrast, pairwise comparision revealed significant differences. Thus, it appears that constancy cannot be assumed at the species level in quantitative genetic studies. In particular, the assumption of constancy was violated for the trait with the greatest difference in mean phenotype.

PHENOTYPIC CORRELATION STRUCTURE AMONG ELEMENTS OF THE COLOR PATTERN IN PRECIS COENIA (LEPIDOPTERA: NYMPHALIDAE).

The component parts of butterfly wing patterns are arranged in sets of serially homologous pattern elements, repeated from wing cell to wing cell. Measurements were made on the sizes and positions of these elements on two successive, independent, sets of specimens in order to elucidate the phenotypic correlation structure among pattern elements. That portion of the correlation between measures due to overall size variation was accounted for through two alternate methods: multiple regression on two vein length measures, which represent wing size, and a Wright-style factor analysis. The sizes of pattern elements belonging to a homologous series were found to be significantly correlated whereas those of non-homologous elements varied independently. The degree of correlation among homologs varied, and, in the case of eyespot sizes, appeared to be inversely related to the degree of their morphological divergence. Although not correlated in size, the positions of non-homologous elements that lie within the same wing cell are moderately correlated. The results support current developmental models for the ontogeny of butterfly color pattern.