(219) Debate as an Active Learning Pedagogy Among Pharmacy Students in a Public Health Course

Objective : To evaluate the impact of a debate activity on pharmacy students' knowledge of public health and health policy topics.

Methods: Forty-eight P2 students in a required public health and health policy course debated universal healthcare coverage for Americans using the Lincoln-Douglas oral debate format. Demographic data were collected, including age and gender. Knowledge (pre/post) of universal healthcare principles was assessed via a rubric-embedded quiz related to the activity objectives. Students' perceptions of the educational value of the debate were assessed before and after the debate using an 8-item Likert scale (1-strongly disagree through 5-strongly agree) and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were conducted using SPSS v25 and Atlas.ti version 9, respectively. Paired t-tests were conducted to compare pre- and post-knowledge scores. An alpha level of 0.05 was utilized.

Results: Forty-two students completed the perceptions survey, yielding a 92% response rate. The mean age was 24±4 years, and a majority of the students were female (63%) and non-Hispanic white (48%). Most had no prior experience with debates (81%). There was a statistically significant improvement in knowledge following the debate from 66.5% ± 13.4 to 80.7% ± 12 (p < 0.001), a total increase of 14.2%. Open responses indicated students felt their overall knowledge about other types of healthcare systems increased, and they developed literature review and communications skills.

Conclusions: The debate activity enhanced students' knowledge and assessment of controversial public health issues that will be useful during their pharmacy education and careers. Students perceived the debates enriched their learning.