Evaluating the Effectiveness of Videos for Teaching Pharmaceutical Calculations to Pharmacy Students

Abstract

Performing pharmaceutical calculations accurately is a fundamental aspect of the pharmacy profession, ensuring treatment efficacy and patient safety. Incorporating videos in teaching can enhance visualisation and reinforce learning. The current study utilised videos to teach calculations and assessed how these affected students’ performance. Initially, pharmacy students were surveyed at one UK University to identify calculation topics they found most challenging, and then two prototype videos were created based on these topics. Feedback was gathered through a follow-up survey on these prototypes, leading to the development of five additional videos. To evaluate the impact of these videos, students were given quizzes before and after watching them. The data were analysed in Microsoft Excel and included paired t-tests to compare mean scores, with significance set at p < 0.05. The survey was completed by 98/130 (75% response rate), with 58% expressing average or low confidence in calculations. A majority (78%) believed that videos would aid their comprehension of calculation concepts. In the subsequent phase, most respondents (92%, 80/87) agreed that the prototype videos improved their understanding of the two topics, but this increase was not statistically significant. However, quiz performance evaluation revealed a significant increase in average scores. This study affirms that videos can boost students’ performance in calculations by allowing them to visualise the relevant practical scenarios.