title: Pharmacy students' learning styles before and after a problem-based learning experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine learning-style scores of second-year pharmacy students before and after a problem-based learning (PBL) teaching experience and to evaluate the relationships between scores and demographic variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Grasha-Reichmann Student Learning Style Scale (GRSLSS) was given to pharmacotherapy laboratory students before and after a semester-long problem-based learning class.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only one of the GRSLSS score variables was reported as "high" ("collaborative") and none were reported as "low." Students' "avoidant" mean score increased and "participant" mean score decreased after completing the PBL experience (p < or = 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While PBL appears to be a teaching style that is conducive to the learning preferences of this cohort of pharmacy students, significant changes in learning styles were noted after completing the PBL experience. These changes may reflect difficulties that occurred in adapting from a didactic teaching style to PBL, and specifically, difficulties in adjusting to participating in a group learning experience. A major limitation was that the teaching style of the facilitator was not measured.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy, 78712, USA. snovak@mail.utexas.edu
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Novak
authors.forename: Sonalee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Lawson
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Salzman
mesh_terms: D004521:Educational Measurement; D005178:Faculty; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007858:Learning; D011340:Problem Solving; D013339:Students, Pharmacy / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires