Study Results
The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.
Basic Information
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COMPLETED
NA
204 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2022-10-03
2022-12-06
Brief Summary
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Varying ID has been shown to affect the speed at which a reader understands; it impacts certain people more than others, such as second language speakers. This effect may be of particular importance in an exam, where understanding a question in a limited time is key. In the UK, pharmacy students must undertake an exam set by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) to be registered as pharmacists. The exam involves pharmaceutical calculations and shows variable pass rates. This study aims to evaluate the impact of reducing ID in a pharmaceutical calculation test and will be conducted in 14 schools of pharmacy in the UK. All participants will take a GPhC style test. Then, participants will be divided into two groups of equal size; one group will undertake a second test with the same ID as the first, while the second group will undertake a test with a lower ID. Finally, the investigators will compare the second test scores between the two groups as cohorts and question by question, evaluating whether lowering ID has increased students' scores.
If and effect is seen, ensuring that questions are written with a controlled ID may help ensure we are examining more fairly and allowing students with the requisite knowledge to pass.
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Detailed Description
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Methods: This is a single-blind, parallel 2-arm multicentre randomised controlled trial conducted in fourteen Universities across the United Kingdom. A 1:1 randomisation and a sample size of 188 pharmacy students will be sufficient to detect a 1-point difference in the mean scores between the intervention and control group during a pharmacy calculation test with two-tails, 80% power and 5% significance level. Each school will recruit a minimum of 14/15 students. Participants will sit two 12-question pharmaceutical calculation tests. All participants will take the same baseline test; then, will be randomised and undertake a second test 2-week after, with standard idea density for the control group and lower idea density for the intervention. Primary outcome: the scores obtained by the participants undertaking the second calculation test 2-week after the baseline. Secondary outcomes: percentage of students achieving a pass during the second test; effect of demographic characteristics (first or not-first English language speakers, age, ethnicity, year of study, specific learning disability) on participants' attainment when lowering idea density.
Conclusion: Results could inform the development of new standards in the pharmaceutical calculations exam.
Conditions
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
BASIC_SCIENCE
SINGLE
The students are the unit of randomisation and intervention. As the randomisation will be 1:1, the block size multiplier will be 2, 4, 6 and the block size 4, 8, and 12. This approach will reduce bias and balance allocating participants to the treatment arm. Furthermore, the process will adopt block permutation, meaning that treatment assignments within blocks are determined to be random in order but that the desired allocation proportions are achieved exactly within each block.
A computerised random number generator will generate the sequence
Study Groups
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Control
Participants in the control group will receive an initial 12 question baseline test (same as intervention). They will after two weeks receive a second test that is linguistically the same as the national GPhC exam.
No interventions assigned to this group
Intervention
Participants in the intervention group will receive an initial 12 question baseline test (same as control). They will after two weeks receive a second test that is reduced in idea density by around 10% overall.
Reduced Idea Density
Question idea density reduced (ratio of propositions to total words used).
Interventions
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Reduced Idea Density
Question idea density reduced (ratio of propositions to total words used).
Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* Registered as a student on an MPharm course in the UK
* Be in years 1-4 of the course (levels 1-7)
Exclusion Criteria
* Not registered on an MPharm course in the UK
* Are currently undertaking a foundation year (level 3)
18 Years
ALL
Yes
Sponsors
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University of Central Lancashire
OTHER
Aston University
OTHER
University of Birmingham
OTHER
University of Bradford
OTHER
De Montfort University
OTHER
University of Greenwich
OTHER
University of Huddersfield
OTHER
Kingston University
OTHER
Newcastle University
OTHER
Queen's University, Belfast
OTHER
Robert Gordon University
OTHER
University of Ulster
OTHER
University of Wolverhampton
OTHER
Liverpool John Moores University
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Andrew Lunn
Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy
Locations
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Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom
Countries
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Other Identifiers
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22/PBS/004
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id
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