Using educational evidence and learning theories to design a pharmacy curriculum

To optimize student engagement and maximize student outcomes pharmacy curricula design should be informed by educational evidence and learning theories. This article explores the reasons why student engagement might be suboptimal and how educational evidence and learning theories can be used to design a new pharmacy curriculum to optimize student engagement and maximize student outcomes. This article introduces Thomas et al.’s [3] six-step approach to curriculum development and provides arguments and evidence for using educational theories and best practices in the curricula design process. A case study shows how University of Bradford School of Pharmacy developed a highly integrated programme with identifiable themes that developed through a spiral curriculum with a clearly defined core curriculum, but with space for significant student choice to enhance learner motivation. To optimize engagement and encourage students to take deeper approaches to learning the curriculum is predominantly delivered by Team-Based Learning, an active and collaborative learning strategy that is informed by social constructivist learning theories.