Implementation of Portfolio Assessment of Student Competence in Two Dental School Populations

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe the process and procedures involved in the implementation of portfolio assessment at two dental schools. Portfolios can be deined as a purposeful collection of student work that involves relection in which students identify gaps in their knowledge and abilities and develop strategies for correcting those gaps. Framed within the current context of dental education and the calls for change in the ways dental students are taught and assessed, these two dental schools embarked upon an assessment strategy aimed at engaging students in self-directed learning and self-assessment. Where one school chose the implementation of programmatic portfolios based on all program competencies, the other school implemented portfolio assessment around speciic program competencies not typically captured easily with traditional assessment measures such as ethics and ethical decision making. In a competency-based dental curriculum in which competence has been deined as the ability to accurately self-assess, it makes sense that strategies aimed at developing the skill of self-assessment should be the goal of every dental education program.

Dental Students’ Clinical Experience Across Three Successive Curricula at One U.S. Dental School

“…Like many U.S. dental schools over the last 25 years, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Dentistry has employed various clinical curricula to ensure students obtain adequate clinical experience and attain required competencies for graduation. Dental schools have introduced such innovative curriculum and assessment formats as comprehensive care, 1 – 6 case completion, 7 , 8 competency examinations, 9 – 12 portfolios, 13 , 14 and community‐based, off‐campus externships 15 – 17 . UCSF has had three major clinical curricular changes since 1992, moving from a discipline‐based curriculum to a comprehensive care curriculum to a procedural requirement curriculum plus externships.…”

Portfolios and Assessment of Personal Protective Devices Course Learning

“…8 Another study researched the implementation of portfolio assessment for students' competence in dental schools and it indicated portfolios had useful results. 11 Another study was performed about the use of portfolios as a tool for assessment and professional development in graduate nursing education. 24 In this study the researcher found the positive effect of portfolio on post graduated.…”

“…In one study, professors paid attention to the implementation of portfolio assessment to evaluate competence in dental students. 11 Some studies talked about the electronic portfolio as a way to encourage assessment. 12 Studies have been done on portfolios in nurses' education, [13][14][15] dental students, 16 medical students 17,18 and others.…”

A survey of dental school's emergency departments in Ireland and the UK: provision of undergraduate teaching and emergency care

“…Portfolios are a suitable form of assessment strategy that takes learning experience to the next level through student reflection. 13 …”