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Straightening the Learning Curve AACP’s scholar-in-residence focuses on the “how” of education. By Kyle R. Bagin The Donald C. Brodie AACP Academic Scholar-inResidence program, established in 1988, provides a focused opportunity for a pharmacy faculty member to examine public policy, conduct research or analyze an issue directly related to pharmacy education or the pharmacy profession.
2014–2015 Scholar Rebecca L. Focken, Pharm.D., assistant professor of practice and IPPE director at North Dakota State University, recently completed a five-month sabbatical at AACP. Early on in her time here, she spoke to us about her Ph.D. focus on adult and occupational education and how the Washington, D.C. area stacked up against her home in Fargo.
Special Delivery
Q. Why do you feel that this is an important issue in pharmacy education?
Q. What is adult and occupational education? A. Adult and occupational education is basically how adults learn, and how adults learn in their workplace environments.
A. I think it can be tempting for programs to focus primarily on covering required curricular content rather than also focusing on the actual delivery of content and higher level assessments of learning. In higher education, educational programs are built primarily around required content. That’s very important and it’s necessary to have content experts, but it’s also important to make sure that programs are delivering content in a way that is going to be most effective for learning; whether the learning is occurring in the didactic setting or during experiential education.
Road Work Ahead Q. What do you hope to accomplish during your time as the Brodie Scholar? A. Currently, I am in the process of working on my Ph.D. in adult and occupational education, so right now my purpose is to begin exploring how programs can best approach teaching and assessing problem solving within pharmacy education. Q. How will your work here benefit pharmacy education? A. Pharmacy educators are content experts who have multiple responsibilities competing for their
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ACADEMIC PHARMACY NOW
2014 Issue 3
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