Evaluating the Group Debate Activity as a Student-Centered Approach in Microbiology Course for PharmD Students: An Observational Study.

Background: Group debate is an educational strategy meant to equip undergraduate students with enhanced communication skills as well as the understanding of complex topics. Many controversial topics in the microbiological field pose challenges to the pharmacist's ability to attribute a specific opinion to its supported clinical evidence and to discuss these topics with confidence. Methods: A total of 76 second-year pharmacy students who enrolled in a PharmD program participated in the group debate as part of the student assessment in microbiology course. The students prepared selected topics on controversial issues in microbiology, which were presented as a debate. Post-debate questionnaire was distributed to the students and used to measure student perceptions. Results: The majority of the students (82.89%) demonstrated an improvement in their understanding of the topics after the debate. The highest percentage was recorded from one topic group (97.37%) which stated that they had improved understanding after the debate. About a third of the total students reported great improvement in their communication skills. Conclusion: This debate group clearly provided the students with high confidence in presenting their arguments from relevant scientific information gathered from existing literature. It also enhanced their understanding of complex and controversial microbiology topics that will be needed during their pharmacy education.