Implementing outcomes-based education through case-based learning and flipped classroom in the pharmacognosy teaching for pharmacy undergraduates

There is a gap between the basic knowledge and practice skill in the traditional teaching of pharmacognosy for pharmacy undergraduates. Under the background of the new era of the transformation and upgrading of the pharmaceutical industry, the teaching reform of pharmacognosy is imperative. The outcome-based education (OBE), which emphasizes student-centered and results-oriented teaching strategy, aligns with the cultivation demand for comprehensive pharmaceutical talents. Case-based learning (CBL) is guided by clinical cases and can help students to integrate theoretical and clinical knowledge. The flipped classroom further strengthens the student-center, which helps cultivate their active learning and problem-solving skills. Thus, this study integrated CBL with flipped classroom and online-offline blended learning, developing an OBE-directed blended teaching method. To evaluate the effectiveness of this method, we conducted a study with 92 participants. The pharmacy undergraduates were divided into a traditional group (n = 49) and a reform group (n = 43) based on the different time of enrollment. And the traditional group employed traditional lecture-based learning, while the reform group received an OBE-directed blended teaching method. Then they were required to complete a questionnaire about their learning outcomes and overall experience after the course. The statistical results showed that the course final grade of reform group was significantly superior to the traditional group. And the results of survey questionnaire indicated that the majority of pharmacy students believed that the OBE-directed blended teaching method could provide guidance for future clinical practice, and could help in their study of pharmacognosy. The OBE-directed blended teaching method, which combined Case-Based Learning with flipped classroom and online-offline blended learning, could improve the quality of pharmacognosy teaching from multiple dimensions. And it may be a promising strategy for pharmaceutical education reform.