Introduction

The Pharmacology II course (PHAR555) is a fourth-year course offered to our pharmacy students at the Lebanese International University (LIU) School of Pharmacy. This course focuses on the pharmacology of cardiovascular drugs, antidiabetic agents, antifungal agents, antibiotics, and cancer chemotherapeutic agents including their indications, contraindications, clinical use, mechanisms of action, physiological effects, pharmacokinetic properties, major adverse events and clinically significant drug interactions.

Aim and Objectives:

In this course, we aim to incorporate active-learning strategies to help students acquire better understanding of fundamental pharmacological properties of cardiovascular drugs, antidiabetic agents, antifungal agents, antibiotics, and cancer chemotherapeutic agents, and to provide pharmacy students with higher levels of competencies and specialized skills. Accordingly, we introduced games as an educational tool to facilitate students’ learning through the integration of information in a competitive active environment. Consequently, a puzzle was created for diuretics lecture within the course which can be accessed at:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TwWc7jt8MHHh87AycI-SirFuY-KF_9DrjaDceBbg2XI/edit?usp=sharing

Plan for Use of Educational Games in the Pharmacology Course:

  • Prepare puzzles on weekends revolving around the previous week’s learning outcomes.
  • Present puzzles to the students upon the beginning of the next week.
  • Brainstorm information gained during the previous lecture’s material.
  • Act as a great ice breaking activity to start the lecture.
  • Assess students’ understanding of the topic discussed previously.

Expected Impact that Educational Games Will Have on Our Teaching:

  • Improve student indulgence in class.
  • Allow students’ participation and interaction.
  • Help students recall information gained in the lecture in an effective manner.
  • Review material and brainstorm information discussed in a previous lecture.
  • Evaluate students’ understanding for the material discussed in a competitive environment.
  • Support higher-level discussions that assist in enhancing students’ communication, social collaboration, and critical-thinking skills.
  • Improve students’ satisfaction, knowledge, attitude, and growth.

Shared by: Dr. Samar Younes, Dr. Nisreen Mourad and Mr. Ali El Husseini
Image Credit: Dr. Samar Younes