Development of a Summative Examination with Subject Matter Expert Validation.

Objective. To describe the development, implementation and impact of a summative examination on student learning and programmatic curricular outcomes. Methods. The summative examination was developed using a systematic approach. Item reliability was evaluated using standard psychometric analyses. Content validity was assessed using necessity scoring as determined by subject matter experts. Results. Almost 700 items written by 37 faculty members were evaluated. Passing standards increased annually (45% in 2009 to 67% in 2014) as the result of targeting item difficulty and necessity scores. The percentage of items exhibiting discrimination above 0.1 increased to 100% over the four years. Necessity scores above 2.75 out of 4 increased from 65% to 100% of items over six years of examination administration. Conclusion. This examination successfully assessed student and curricular outcomes. Faculty member engagement observed in this process supports a culture of assessment. This type of examination could be beneficial to other programs.

Pharmacy students' ability to think about thinking.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate students' metacognitive skills to distinguish what they know from what they do not know, to assess students' prediction of performance on a summative examination, and to compare student-identified incorrect questions with actual examination performance in order to improve exam quality. METHODS: Students completed a test-taking questionnaire identifying items perceived to be incorrect and rating their test-taking ability. RESULTS: Higher performing students evidenced better metacognitive skills by more accurately identifying incorrect items on the exam. Most students (86%) underpredicted their performance on the summative examination (actual = 73.6 ± 7.1 versus predicted = 63.7 ± 10.5, p < 0.05). Student responses helped refine items and resulted in examination changes. CONCLUSION: Metacognition is important to the development of life-long learning in pharmacy students. Students able to monitor what they know and what they do not know can improve their performance.

Faculty perceptions of appropriate faculty behaviors in social interactions with student pharmacists.

OBJECTIVE: To determine faculty and administrator perceptions about appropriate behavior in social interactions between pharmacy students and faculty members. METHODS: Four private and 2 public colleges and schools of pharmacy conducted focus groups of faculty members and interviews with administrators. Three scenarios describing social interactions between faculty members and students were used. For each scenario, participants reported whether the faculty member's behavior was appropriate and provided reasons for their opinions. RESULTS: Forty-four percent of those surveyed or interviewed considered interactions between faculty members and pharmacy students at a bar to be a boundary violation. Administrators were more likely than faculty members to consider discussing other faculty members with a student to be a boundary violation (82% vs. 46%, respectively, P <0.009). A majority (87%) of faculty members and administrators considered "friending" students on Facebook a boundary violation. CONCLUSIONS: There was no clear consensus about whether socializing with students at a bar was a boundary violation. In general, study participants agreed that faculty members should not initiate friendships with current students on social networks but that taking a student employee to lunch was acceptable.