A SURVEY OF TRENDS OF BACHELOR PHARMACY STUDENTS THESES BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic spread to Indonesia in March 2020 and subsided in mid-2022. The pandemic has had a major impact on the health of people around the world and has affected other aspects of life, especially education. The pandemic had an impact on academic activities in higher education. This study aims to describe the research patterns of bachelor pharmacy student's thesis before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We also investigated the reasons for students in determining thesis research topics and the percentage of theses published in journals or proceedings. The study was designed observationally with a questionnaire to collect the data. The respondents included pharmacy undergraduate students at Universitas Gadjah Mada who are completing or have completed the thesis during the period before, during, or after the COVID-19 pandemic. The data obtained were analyzed descriptively according to the same variables such as trends in thesis research topics, students' reasons for determining topics, and number of journal publications from thesis research. The total number of respondents who completed the questionnaire was 258, with 53, 100, and 95 students conducting the research before, during, and after the pandemic, respectively. Before the pandemic, among all respondents, most of them conducted research on the topics of pharmaceutical technology (22.73%), pharmacology & toxicology (15.91%), pharmacotherapy & clinical pharmacy (15.91%), and pharmacy management and community pharmacy (15.91%). In terms of research methods, most of them conducted laboratory-based research (76.06%). During the pandemic, the topics of research were dominated by pharmacotherapy & clinical pharmacy (34.88%), and pharmacy management and community pharmacy (32.56%), and the most common type of final project study was literature review (47.57%). After the pandemic subsided in mid-2022, pharmacy management and community pharmacy (41.94%) was the most dominant one. In the study, we observed that scientific interest and supervisor competence were two main reasons for students in determining the topic of research topics. Among respondents, up to 25% of all bachelor student thesis was published in the form of national and international journal articles, and presentations at national and international conferences. Based on the study, we conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the trends of bachelor pharmacy student thesis.
References
Cazarez RLU, 2020, Joseph E. Aoun: Robot proof: higher education at the age of artificial intelligence, Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines, 21:265–26
Chandrasiri NR, Weerakoon BS. 2022. Online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perceptions of allied health sciences undergraduates. Radiography (Lond). 28(2):545-549.
Gusholianda, D., Lorita, E., & Yusuarsono, 2022, Administrative Services of the Faculty of Social Sciences in University of Dehasen Bengkulu for Students During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Jurnal ISO, 2(1).
HPEQ Project, 2013, Indonesian Pharmacist Education, Health Professional Education Quality Project, Collaboration between the Association of Indonesian Pharmacy Higher Education and the Indonesian Pharmacist Association.
Adli I, Widyahening IS, Lazarus G, Phowira J, Baihaqi LA, Ariffandi B, Putera AM, Nugraha D, Gamalliel N, Findyartini A. 2022. Knowledge, attitude, and practice related to the COVID-19 pandemic among undergraduate medical students in Indonesia: A nationwide cross-sectional study. PLoS One. 17(1):e0262827.
Istadi Y, Raharjo TJ, Azam M, Mulyono SE. 2022. Academic Performance in Medical Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review. Adv Med Educ Pract. 13:1423-1438.
Kemendikbud, 2020, National Standards for Higher Education, The Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture. Republik of Indonesia.
McKibbin, W., and Fernando, R., 2020, The Global Macroeconomic Impacts of COVID-19: Seven Scenarios, Asian Economic Papers 20(2): 1-5.
Mohamed, M., Mak, V., Sumalatha, G., Nugroho, A.E., Hertiani, T., Zulkefeli, M., Dorjbal, E., Dashbaljir, S., Faller, E., Benosa, C. A., Zaini, S., 2021. Pharmacy education during and beyond COVID-19 in six Asia-Pacific countries: Changes, challenges, and experiences. Pharmacy Education. 20. 183-195.
Osaili TM, Ismail LC, ElMehdi HM, Al-Nabulsi AA, Taybeh AO, Saleh ST, Kassem H, Alkhalidy H, Ali HI, Al Dhaheri AS, Stojanovska L. 2023. Comparison of students' perceptions of online and hybrid learning modalities during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of the University of Sharjah. PLoS One. 18(3):e0283513.
Powell, J., Koelemay, M., 2021. Systematic Reviews of the Literature Are Not Always Either Useful or The Best Way To Add To Science. EJVES Vascular Forum. 54.
Rahyono, F.X., 2010, Kiat Menyusun Skripsi dan Strategi, Penaku, Jakarta.
Schwab, K, 2016, The Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum, Cologny/Geneva Switzerland.
Sharma, A., Ahmad Farouk, I., Lal, S.K. 2021, COVID-19: A Review on the Novel Coronavirus Disease Evolution, Transmission, Detection, Control and Prevention. Viruses 2021, 13, 202.
Singh, J., Steele, K., Singh, L. 2021. Combining the Best of Online and Face-to-Face Learning: Hybrid and Blended Learning Approach for COVID-19, Post Vaccine, & Post-Pandemic World. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 50(2), 140-171
Sugiyono. 2015, Metode Penelitian Pendidikan: Pendekatan Kuantitatif, Kualitatif dan R&D, Alfabeta, Bandung.
Wray S, Kinman G. 2022. The challenges of COVID-19 for the well-being of academic staff. Occup Med (Lond). 72(1):2-3.
Zheng, M., Bender, D. Lyon, C. 2021. Online learning during COVID-19 produced equivalent or better student course performance as compared with pre-pandemic: empirical evidence from a school-wide comparative study. BMC Med Educ 21, 495.
Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W, Li X, Yang B, Song J, Zhao X, Huang B, Shi W, Lu R, Niu P, Zhan F, Ma X, Wang D, Xu W, Wu G, Gao GF, Tan W; China Novel Coronavirus Investigating and Research Team. A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med. 2020 Feb 20;382(8):727-733.
