Generally, although pharmacy has a strong grounding in the life sciences, the study of mathematics serves primarily in a supporting role. At the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, the mathematics related study required of the typical student includes one-semester courses in precalculus, calculus, physics, and biostatistics. So, it should not be surprising that an often heard refrain regarding most elements of traditional mathematics content, approached in a traditional way, goes something like "why do I need to know this to dispense medication?" or "what does this have to do with drugs?" 

In response to this pedagogical challenge, I have written computer-based (Maple V Release 3) interactive text, two hardcopy workbooks, and an Internet text (under development) "Calculus for Kinetic Modeling (CKM)."  This interactive text has been designed to emphasize the introduction of precalculus and calculus concepts using exploratory problem-solving and visualization. My approach has been to refocus and reprioritize the learning goals of traditional precalculus and calculus courses, in order to ensure that this material will be both appealing and useful to mathematics nonmajors. In particular, a primary goal of this project has been to provide pharmacy students the opportunity to acquire a mathematical understanding of the basics of kinetic modeling, including an introduction to reaction kinetics, Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics, Makoid-Banakar drug dissolution, and several first-order drug absorption models. 

In addition, I have developed a new method of assessment called "The Mastery TASK System." The precalculus (calculus) topics in CKM Part I (Part II) are each partitioned into about 12 TASKs, each of which is a complete problem situation with different components and a clear end purpose. In order to keep students engaged and successful, there is a weekly thirty minute test, a "TASK Performance," with a required minimum mastery level built into each TASK varying from 75-85%. If the minimum mastery level is not attained on this week's TASK then either an "Encore Performance" or a "Revision Interview & Assignment" must be completed, at least at the minimum mastery level.

I have been using this Mastery TASK System now for three and one half years, variously in precalculus, calculus, and physics with both "weak" and "strong" classes. Providing these students with an opportunity to improve their learning by successive approximations has resulted in more than a letter grade improvement in the average grade of each one of these classes, compared to the traditional approach I had been using previously. Dramatic individual improvement is seen for most of these students compared to their first tries. So, it is very clear that, if these courses were to continue as usual with no retest or revision, not addressing the learning gap of most of the students, successful learning would be interrupted before it could be completed. Apparently, learning-by-doing with continuous assessment contains key features of a framework within which these students can most successfully develop their own mathematical concepts, skills, and understanding. 

In addition to the description above, please visit the links at left prefixed by CKM, and in particular the CKM.Innovations and CKM.Syllabus.Methods links. In CKM.Syllabus.Methods you may view Ability Outcomes, Learning Methods, and Tentative Schedule, to see the explicit statement of goals and learning objectives/desired outcomes, and how they are implemented via the course structure and mechanics.