Use of Situational Judgment Tests to Teach Empathy, Assertiveness, Communication, and Ethics

Abstract

Objective. The objectives of this study were to (1) develop SJT scenarios for use in teaching empathy, assertiveness, and interprofessional communication in second-year pharmacy (P2) students, and ethics in third-year (P3) pharmacy students, (2) determine if SJTs developed were effective at measuring student’s communication skills and ethical judgment, (3) compare the performance of individual P3 students to the performance of teams of P3 students on the ethics SJT and (4) evaluate student feedback about SJTs as a teaching tool.

Methods. Pharmacy faculty developed five SJT scenarios related to communications and five SJT scenarios related to ethics and piloted the scenarios with P2 and P3 students, respectively. P2 students completed SJTs individually while P3 students completed theirs individually and as a team. Scenarios and responses were discussed with faculty after completion of the SJT. Students completed a questionnaire to provide feedback on the SJT.

Results. The communications SJT was completed by 59 P2 students with a mean score of 67.5% and reliability of α=0.594. The ethics SJT was completed by 57 P3 students with a mean score of 80.1% and reliability of α=0.789. The ethics SJT was also completed by 10 teams of P3 students resulting in a mean score of 93.2%. Students indicated the SJT content was realistic and the tests provided the opportunity to reflect on how to approach challenging situations.

Conclusion. SJTs were useful for teaching empathy, assertiveness, interprofessional communication, and ethics in pharmacy students. Future research should focus on predictive validity of SJTs for these content areas.