Development and evaluation of a computer-assisted instructional program in an advanced pharmacotherapeutics course

The manuscript describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a computer-assisted instructional (CAI) program to facilitate learning in an advanced pharmacotherapy course taught to Doctor of Pharmacy students. The target disease states for this pilot program were peptic ulcer disease (PUD) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Objectives included: (i) developing a CAI program for the therapeutic management and pathophysiology of PUD and GERD; and (ii) determining the acceptance of the PUD/GERD CAI program as a method of teaching pharmacotherapeutic principles. All University of Georgia Pharm. D. students enrolled in the Fall 1995 Advanced Pharmacotherapeutics course were invited to use the CAI program after four hours of PUD/GERD lectures. Students completed a survey upon completion of the PUD/GERD CAI program. This survey evaluated students' acceptance and perceptions of the effectiveness of the PUD/GERD CAI software as an instructional instrument. Results indicated that students (n=40; 100 percent of the class) perceived that the PUD/GERD CAI program was a valuable learning experience (4.20 +/- 0.60; Likert scale: 1 = ''strongly disagree'' to 5 = ''strongly agree'') and felt it enhanced patient-problem solving skills (3.96 +/- 0.87). In addition, students expressed the desire to use CAI programs for other pharmacotherapeutics topics (4.45 +/- 0.63). Although students enjoyed using the PUD/GERD CAI program (4.28 +/- 0.65), they disagreed with the statement that the CAI program should be used in place of traditional pharmacotherapeutics lectures (1.75 +/- 0.70) and favorably indicated that it should be used as a supplement to lectures (4.55 +/- 0.67, P<0.01). Computer-assisted teaching in combination with traditional pharmacotherapeutics lectures is valuable in the instruction of pharmacotherapeutics.