Ka. Sauer et Jr. Draugalis, Mock proposals and other group assignments: Bridging didactic research evaluation skills to research applications, AM J PHAR E, 64(3), 2000, pp. 307-312
An educational strategy was developed to create a means for students to con
nect skills introduced in a course sequence during the second professional
year with the evaluative PharmD project conducted later in the curriculum.
Fifty-seven students were divided into ten groups. Using a published articl
e, each group developed a mock project proposal and accompanying human subj
ects forms following prescribed PharmD Project Guidelines. The student grou
ps also critiqued research designs used in previous PharmD projects using s
kills applied in the earlier courses. Application of the procedure outlined
in the PharmD Project Guidelines to group assignments provided a means of
rehearsing the process without the intimidation of working alone. The uncer
tainty and anxiety typical of task initiation was decreased for this group
of students as they began work on their evaluative PharmD projects.