Assessment of Teaching Effectiveness in U.S. Dental Schools and the Value of Triangulation

Abstract

The routine evaluation of teaching effectiveness is important in improving faculty, departmental, and institutional efforts. There are three main categories of assessments: those performed by students, peers, and self. Although each category is independently valid, a collection of data from all three categories leads to a more comprehensive outcome and a creation of a triangulation model. The purpose of this study was to identify commonly used methods of assessing teaching effectiveness and to suggest the use of a triangulation model, which has been advocated in the literature on performance assessment as an optimal approach for evaluating teaching effectiveness. A twelve-question survey was sent to all U.S. dental schools to identify evaluation methods as well as to find evidence of triangulation. Thirty-nine out of fifty-seven schools responded. The majority of the schools used student evaluations (81 percent) and peer reviews (78 percent). A minority of schools reported using self-evaluations (31 percent). Less than one in five dental schools reported using all three strategies to achieve triangulation (19 percent). The three most commonly used evaluation methods ("performed routinely") were all in the student evaluation category. Less than half of the schools routinely evaluated clinical teaching effectiveness by any means (42 percent). In conclusion, dental schools should implement a triangulation process, in which evaluation data are obtained from students, peers, and self to provide a comprehensive and composite assessment of teaching effectiveness.

Educational Satisfaction of Senior Dental Students Towards Paediatric Dentistry at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia

“…A routine curriculum evaluation by the students themselves is important to provide feedback and suggestions for the revision of curriculum and to improve the learning environment, because the students are the target centre of educational processes (8,15,16) . This study was conducted to assess the attitude of KSU senior year dental students towards clinical paediatric dentistry trainings.…”

“…Effectiveness in teaching can be defined as the extent to which the teaching activity fulfils its intended purpose, function, and goal (8) . Dentistry is a discipline that includes several branches for specialization such as operative dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery, endodontics, paediatric dentistry, orthodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, oral radiology, and oral pathology.…”

A novel framework of web-based information system for determining the necessity of faculty members: An university perspective

“…Teaching evaluation can identify common problems existing in teaching and help provide solutions for them. In this process, the evaluators ask students about issues they experienced in their education and report these problems to the appropriate administrative officers, mainly when students are reluctant to report the problem or when they do not know who to say the issues to Wen et al (2011), and they also serve as a basis for decisionmaking concerning hiring, contract renewal, incentives, and promotions (Gimbel et al, 2008;Bland et al, 2002;Jahangiri et al, 2008;Williams et al, 2001). Although many studies have been published about teaching evaluation in medical education, most of them provide only descriptions of the evaluation system.…”

Percepción de los estudiantes de las características y comportamientos de sus profesores asociados a una enseñanza clínica efectiva

“…Así, el profesor debería progresar y crecer en su formación como clínico y educador, y en este proceso incrementar su efectividad. La adaptación del modelo de 3-círculos de logros de aprendizaje de Dundee describe al profesor avanzando desde competencias técnicas a meta-competencias; el círculo interno-básico define las tareas que todo profesor clínico debe cumplir, "haciendo lo correcto"; el círculo intermedio corresponde al enfoque con el que el profesor enfrenta la enseñanza, "haciendo las cosas bien"; y el círculo exterior-avanzado se refiere al profesor como un profesional de la educación, "la persona correcta en acción" (Hesketh et al, 2001;Ramani & Leinster, 2008 En términos educativos una enseñanza efectiva se define en la medida que las actividades de enseñanza cumplan con el propósito, función y meta que se pretende de ellas (Jahangiri et al, 2008). El objetivo de la enseñanza clínica es proveer a los aprendices con los conocimientos, destrezas y actitudes que necesitarán en su futura vida profesional (Snell et al, 2000).…”

“…Los instrumentos que califican la efectividad de la enseñanza proporcionan tanto retroalimentación positiva como negativa a los profesores, y en condiciones ideales su finalidad es ayudar a mejorar la "habilidad para enseñar". Los resultados obtenidos en instrumentos en los cuales los estudiantes califican la efectividad de los profesores son confiables y se correlacionan con otros indicadores tales como aprendizaje del estudiante, auto-evaluación del instructor y calificación de pares (Copeland & Hewson, 2000;Jahangiri et al, 2008).…”