Introducing Pharmaceutics to Middle School Students using with Hypothesis-Driven, At-Home Activities (Journal Article)

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Abstract: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in healthcare and related science majors at the undergraduate level. This presents an opportunity to introduce health science training in middle school science classes to familiarize students to various healthcare-related fields. The pharmaceutical science-based hands-on activities for middle school student presented here used over-the-counter vitamin supplements and inexpensive equipment for its easy replication at home or in an educational setting. The two main objectives of the activities were to signify the instructions of drug administration on labels of vitamin C effervescent tablets and to introduce effective drug delivery of iron supplement syrup. These activities followed Kolb’s framework of experiential learning theory through four key steps: (1) design a testable hypothesis, (2) identify experimental variables and controls, (3) incorporate wet chemistry and safety analysis into the process, and (4) data recording and presentation. This online and distance outreach model can be adapted in online K-8 summer or afterschool programs which can especially benefit students in rural regions or those with limited mobility. Furthermore, the pre- and post-activity sheets corroborated student’s ability to (a) combine their knowledge of kitchen chemistry and laboratory safety skills through active experimentation, and (b) reflect on the experimental results obtained for test variables and compare those to their original hypotheses.