Debate as an Active Learning Pedagogy Among Pharmacy Students in a Public Health Course

To evaluate the impact of a debate activity on pharmacy students’ knowledge of public health and health policy topics. Forty-six second-year pharmacy students in a required public health and health policy course debated universal healthcare coverage for Americans using the Lincoln-Douglas oral debate format. Demographic data, including age and gender, were collected. Knowledge (before/after) of universal healthcare principles was assessed via a rubric-embedded quiz related to the activity objectives. The students’ perceptions of the educational value of the debate were assessed before and after the debate using a 12-item Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree through 5 = strongly agree) and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were conducted using SPSS v25 and Atlas.ti version 9, respectively. Wilcoxon t tests were conducted to compare preknowledge and postknowledge scores. An α level of 0.05 was utilized. Forty-two students completed the perceptions survey, yielding a 96 % response rate. The mean age was 24 ± 4 years and primarily female (63 %). Most students had no previous experience with debates (80.4 %) and there was a statistically significant improvement in knowledge after the debate from 66.5 % ± 13.4 % to 80.7 % ± 12 % , for a total increase of 14.2 %. Open responses indicated that students believed their overall knowledge about other healthcare systems increased and they developed literature review and communications skills. The debate activity enhanced the students’ knowledge and assessment of controversial public health issues that will be useful during their pharmacy education and careers. The students perceived that the debates enriched their learning.