Assessment of professional behaviour — a comparison of self-assessment by first year dental students and assessment by staff

Abstract

Objective: A study was set up to assess usefulness and acceptability of a method of assessing professional behaviour of undergraduate dental students. Setting: The first year preclinical course at the Department of Dentistry and Oral Hygiene, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Materials and method: A form was developed with an ordinal scale to assess undergraduate professional behaviour. A standard means of carrying out assessment was then undertaken and subsequently used to give feedback to the students at the end of each of three terms. The students' self-assessment was then compared to that of the staff. Results: Descriptive analysis of the results was carried out per term. The response rate was 80-85%. The significant difference which existed between the scores of students and staff at the start of the study was reduced to reasonable agreement over two of the three criteria. Conclusions: The study indicated that the initial difference in assessment of their professional behaviour by first year dental students and by staff, was reduced by the forms and procedure used. This indicates the usefulness of the procedure as a teaching aid. The high participation rate confirms this to be an acceptable means of assessment of dental students' professional behaviour.

Assessing professionalism within dental education; the need for a definition

“…Assessment of medical students has taken place in both the clinical setting (93, 94) and within problem‐based learning group sessions (95). Dental students have been observed by staff within a skills laboratory, and the observations combined with self‐assessment to provide the students with concrete feedback (96).…”

Influences on self-evaluation during a clinical skills programme for nurses

“…The bulk of studies have found that self-evaluation correlates poorly with subsequent performance and therefore conclude that learners' self-evaluation ability is poor (Falchikov and Boud 1989;Gordon 1991;Tracey et al 1997;Wayne et al 2006;Zijlstra-Shaw et al 2005). Suggested influences on accuracy include academic performance (Hodges et al 2001;Violato and Lockyer 2006) and gender, with studies indicating under-rating by women and over-rating by men in comparison to external measures (Mattheos et al 2004;Minter et al 2005).…”

Student Self‐Assessment of Operative Dentistry Experiences: A Time‐Dependent Exercise in Self‐Directed Learning

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Students' self-assessment is the cornerstone of learned skills to ensure optimal patient-centered care learner outcomes. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Students' self-assessment is the cornerstone of learned skills to ensure optimal patient-centered care learner outcomes.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Students' self-assessment is the cornerstone of learned skills to ensure optimal patient-centered care learner outcomes. [6][7][8][9] It is imperative to understand the progression of learner outcomes through consistent objectives, so that calibrated and realistic expectations of dental students' clinical experiences are established. Due to this fledgling approach, novice students have a hard time discerning small details that can be detrimental to the longevity of direct restorations.…”

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Students' self-assessment is not a new concept of critical evaluation: a recent systematic review by Mays and Branch-Mays found that many research projects have focused on student selfassessment for improving student learning outcomes both quantitatively and qualitatively. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Students' self-assessment is not a new concept of critical evaluation: a recent systematic review by Mays and Branch-Mays found that many research projects have focused on student selfassessment for improving student learning outcomes both quantitatively and qualitatively.…”