Faculty staff are currently engaged in a wide range of educational projects, including:

Review of the 4-year BPharm curriculum

Roll-out of the new curriculum is planned for 2008, beginning with first year. To date we have developed:

• a comprehensive draft statement of learning outcomes for each of the four years, clustered under four themes:
  • Basic and Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Professional Practice in Pharmacy
  • Personal and Professional Development
  • Society and Pharmacist
• a proposed Unit of Study structure that aims for vertical and horizontal alignment/integration of curriculum content

CONTACT: A/Prof Greg RYAN

Academic honesty in a professional degree program: student awareness of plagiarism

This collaborative project with the University's Learning Centre is investigating Pharmacy students' understanding of plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty, their judgments as to what referencing and sourcing strategies are acceptable /unacceptable in presenting assessment tasks, and their understanding of the Plagiarism policy of the University of Sydney.  Outcomes will inform faculty strategies designed to help students avoid occurrences of both negligent and dishonest plagiarism.
CONTACT: A/Prof Greg RYAN

Undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students' approaches to learning

A longitudinal study into BPharm and MPharm students' motivational approaches to learning (learning/study strategies; motivation for studying pharmacy; reliance on self- or external- sources of guidance) which is being used to inform curriculum review and enhance teaching practices in the faculty. Results obtained so far have been presented at international pharmacy and education conferences and are under review for publication.
CONTACT: Dr Lorraine Smith, A/Prof Ines KRASS

An investigation of the use of anonymous peer feedback during formative assessment of Pharmacy students' medication reviews

The use of peer assessment is long-established in education traditions, and its effectiveness in higher education settings has been well-documented (cf Boud, 1997; Fry, Ketteridge & Marshall, 2002; James, McInnis & Devlin, 2002). Although the importance of anonymity in peer assessment has also been investigated, (cf. Hanrahan & Isaacs, 2001), this study will use double-blind peer review, together with expert review, to investigate whether the feedback provided by students is constructive; whether it is consistent with the feedback provided by tutors; and to what extent the use of this assessment enhances the student learning experience.
CONTACT: A/Prof Greg RYAN

Implementing PBL with students on remote rural Pharmacy placement

This project involves an in-depth investigation of the effectiveness of conducting problem based learning (PBL) tutorials at a distance, using communications technology, with students from the Faculty of Pharmacy who are undertaking clinical placements in rural NSW. Specifically it investigates the issues associated with implementing PBL during a full University semester, using a range of technologies, and involving one tutor located at the University's main campus with eight 4th year students located remotely at Lismore and Broken Hill. Comparison will be made with the experiences of students who are undertaking similar PBL activities but who are located on the main Camperdown campus.
CONTACT: A/Prof Greg RYAN

From students to professional health care team members - a case for interprofessional learning

This project aims to pilot an interprofessional learning module with a small group of students from the Faculties of Medicine, Nursing, Health Science and Pharmacy. A community rather than hospital based approach will be used and an evidence based intervention used as the framework for the interprofessional learning. The intervention will focus on peer led asthma interventions in high schools with student health professionals collaborating as a team to train the high school students.
CONTACT: Dr Bandana SAINI

Enhancing student collaboration in Problem-Based Learning.

In 2007, the use of a Wiki (a website or similar online resource which allows users to add and edit content collectively) was trialled in a Master of Pharmacy Unit of Study (UoS), using a free, public Wiki on an external website. In response to student feedback from that trial, a Wiki is being developed on the Pharmacy Education Unit’s server for use as the platform for a group-based PBL assignment. The outcomes of this assignment will be compared with paper-based group PBL assignments from the same cohort. In addition student opinions of both case formats will be sought via self-completed questionnaire and focus group session.
CONTACT: Dr Kylie WILLIAMS

Activities within the Faculty to promote the first two elements of research-led teaching are listed below, and examples of scholarship projects can be found under Projects and Publications.

Bridging the theory-practice gap in first-year Pharmacy Practice
PHAR1821 Social Pharmacy includes an assessment task requiring students to interview a friend or family member with a chronic illness and use the interview data to illustrate a theory of illness behaviour. Students get practice at devising a structured interview schedule, interviewing, and qualitative data analysis. These data are then applied to theory. In this way the theory-practice gap is bridged. Lecture material on theoretical concepts is illustrated using results of pharmacy practice research projects.
CONTACT: Dr Lorraine Smith

Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) Workshops in Year 2 and Year 3 of the BPharm
In Medicinal Chemistry 2B and 3B students operate computer software used by researchers as part of drug design to investigate the qualitative and quantitative relationships between the structural or chemical features of compounds and their known biological activity. This enables the development of a predictive model that can be used with new compounds of unknown biological activity and from this model insight may be gained into which structural features and chemical characteristics of each compound lead to increased or decreased biological activity. The workshops are helpful for improving quantitative, particularly statistical, skills which are essential for quality research.
CONTACT: Dr Colin Duke, Dr Dai Hibbs, A/Prof Mary Collins

Herbal Medicines Workshops, and Associated Oral Presentation and Report in Year 3 of the BPharm
In the subject Medicinal Chemistry 3B, students work together in pairs to investigate scientific background (chemistry and pharmacology) and clinical efficacy of their choice of 1 of 34 herbs. In the last workshop, each pair gives an oral presentation of their findings and submits an associated report. Within this activity are embedded the learning of research skills such as literature searching using online citation databases, collaborative writing and editing, and oral presentation of one’s work. Also the quality of research evidence knowledge upon which pharmacists base their advice to patients is emphasized in the requirement of referencing at least 5 articles from peer-reviewed journals with an impact factor of 1.5 or more.
CONTACT: Dr Lenka Munoz

The role of the pharmacist in Home Medicines Review
This area of Dr Tim Chen’s research has been instrumental in informing the process of undertaking medication reviews, which is the main focus for third year Pharmacy Practice Units of Study.
CONTACT: Dr Tim Chen

Drug Action Workshops & Associated Essay in Year 2 of the BPharm
In Medicinal Chemistry 2B, students work together in teams of 5-6 students to write an essay on the pharmaceutical properties and medicinal chemistry of an assigned drug. Within this activity are embedded the learning of research skills such as information searching using online citation databases, managing references using the software Endnote, gaining an understanding of different types of peer-reviewed publications, collaborative writing and editing, writing an abstract for a piece of work, formatting an academic document, and the extrapolation of research literature findings to particular clinical situations.
CONTACT: Dr Alaina Ammit, Dr Colin Duke

Research exposure course for Advanced students
CONTACT: Associate Professor Ines Krass

Data management for Advanced students
CONTACT: Associate Professor Ines Krass

Vacation Scholarship: Psychotropic Drug Use Among Patients of a Community Mental Health Service
In 2005/6, a summer vacation scholarship project focused on the use of psychotropic medicines by consumers attending community mental health centres in Sydney. Findings were published in the journal Disease Management & Health Outcomes (2006; 14(6)).
CONTACT: Dr Tim Chen