Hybrid e-learning approach to health policy

Hybrid teaching methodologies involve combining traditional teaching techniques with advances in technology to deliver content. The main objective was to assess the impact of a hybrid teaching methodology on improving critical thinking in the health policy elective course. Secondary objectives included assessment of students’ perceptions on healthcare policy in the field of pharmacy and the use of those perceptions to design and deliver an elective course incorporating e-learning strategies. A prospective, mixed method exploratory pilot study was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 employed the use of a focus group to determine students’ preliminary understanding of the policy course and train them on practical principles in public policy advocacy, while Phase 2 focused on the delivery of the course content. The assessment of the course showed that adopting a hybrid approach to policy instruction produces varied results when looking at critical thinking as measured by the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) and the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST). All the students felt that their ability to effectively participate in the policy course improved significantly but the assessment showed mixed findings. The course benefited from being new and giving the students a broad view of the policy process. Critical thinking was improved among our students who were enrolled in the health policy elective. Nevertheless, a further study with an increased sample size is needed to tease out the impact of these different methodologies in addition to other technology-based ones.