Pharmacy Law and Regulation
Entering my fourth year of graduate school, I recognized that I had minimal experience teaching "in the classroom." I had presented several guest lectures and even created assignments, but I never had the opportunity to work in a course for an entire semester. During Fall 2020, I connected with the course coordinator of the Pharmacy Law and Regulation course at UW-Madison School of Pharmacy and expressed my interest in not only TAing for her course in Spring 2021, but also taking on more responsibilities as a "junior course coordinator." I was honest and shared that I didn't want my first time instructing a course to be on my own as a faculty member. She excitedly offered me the position and we began updating the curriculum, evaluating the course learning objectives, creating the syllabus and course calendar. Once the semester began, in addition to weekly responsibilities I also claimed responsibility for one complete "module" -- developing learning objectives, lecture content, assignments, and quiz evaluations. I requested feedback from the students after my "Taylor Takeover Week" as well as at the end of the semester.
I served as a teaching assistant for 732-611 Pharmacy Law and Regulation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I worked with the course coordinator, Kate Rotzenberg, PharmD, MBA, BCPS to act as a "junior course coordinator" and took on additional responsibilities such as content creation, facilitating synchronous discussion sessions, assignment creation, and other tasks.
After TAing this course, I am more comfortable in a classroom setting as well as one-on-one interaction with professional pharmacy students.
Dive in to my contributions to the semester below!
Course Orientation
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this course was entirely virtual. In lieu of "Syllabus Week" (where instructors dedicate time during the first class period to review the syllabus) we created an orientation video to walk students through the syllabus, review the structure and expectations for the course, and provide some tips for success. Students were encouraged to read and review the syllabus or watch the video with a 3 point extra credit "Syllabus Quiz."
Weekly Guided Discussion Sessions
In planning the course, we wanted to update the traditional office hours to something that was still optional, but that students would be motivated and want to utilize. We added "Participation Points" as a part of the course grade, where students would receive credit for attending and participating in these weekly sessions. [Students also had other opportunities to earn points to meet their comfort levels such as posting on discussion boards or one-on-one meetings with course faculty]. It was important for me to make the Guided Discussion Sessions (previously known as office hours) not only useful for students and an opportunity to ask questions, but also provide them an opportunity to interact with one another in a virtual setting and have a tangible artifact that they could use in the future. We utilized Zoom as the video conferencing platform and used a Google Doc to work through various blank tables... filling them in to aggregate related course content. Check out an example of a "blank" Guided Discussion Handout:
Guest Lectures and Content
During this course, I wanted the opportunity to develop course content as well. I took responsibility for an entire week (3 modules) in the course. I developed learning objectives, recorded lectures, wrote quiz questions, and developed and graded a writing assignment.
Take a student view of some of this content below!
20 - Dispensing Prescriptions and Counseling
First up in the line-up for the week are the federal and state requirements for dispensing and counseling patients!
Optional: In the lecture, I post some questions asking, "What do you think?" I've created threads for you to respond to those questions in the Week 8 discussion board if you'd like. An opportunity to share your thoughts or experiences with your fellow learners ad well as score some participation points. ;)
Letter to Legislator Assignment
One of the learning objectives for Pharmacy Law and Regulation was to demonstrate advocacy for the profession of pharmacy and patient welfare. Using what I had learned from my own graduate school coursework ("Writing Across the Curriculum" as part of the Delta Program), I developed a writing assignment for the pharmacy students to write a letter to their actual legislators on an actual issue pertaining to the profession of pharmacy. Although they did not have to send the letter, this assignment required not only knowledge of the law, the legal process, and the profession, but also consideration for the appropriate audience and how to persuade a reader to act in a certain way.
Overall, TAing in the Pharmacy Law course was an incredible experience. I gained insight into the immense amount of effort required to prepare and facilitate an entire course, but also how rewarding and fun it is to interact and grow with students. In the virtual environment with COVID-19, I learned strategies to engage and support students that I can apply to any educational settings--utilizing technology such as Google Docs to promote collaborative learning or providing asynchronous opportunities to ask questions of course staff or classmates. This semester far exceeded my expectations as a "junior course coordinator" and graduate student learner and caused me to reevaluate my teaching philosophy and beliefs on honest and transparent expectations for students.
Because of this experience, I am more confidant in my abilities to organize and facilitate a course for pharmacy students. Whether via virtual or in-person courses, I look forward to a future in academia.