Validation of online learning in pharmacy education: Effectiveness and student insight

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness in terms of knowledge change pre- and post-online learning and toexplore Malaysian pharmacy students’ perception and acceptance of online learning. An independent web-basedlearning module was developed for a module on basic patient counselling skills for pharmacy students of a Malaysianpublic university. Out of a total of 124 students, 120 (96.8%) students participated in the study and completed anassessment and feedback survey. Students’ knowledge scores were found to have significantly improved aftercompleting the online learning activity, with a 47.9 ± 25.1% (p < 0.001) improvement. Overall, more than 90% ofstudents agreed that the online module was useful for new topic learning and revising, provided relevant content, whichwas arranged in a clear and logical manner, and thus facilitated their understanding. The majority of students reported tohave enjoyed and satisfied with the online learning. More than half of them agreed that online learning was time-saving,allowed self-paced learning and improved their confidence level.