Understanding dental students’ use of feedback

Abstract

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How does a move towards a coaching approach impact the delivery of written feedback in undergraduate clinical education?

“…These encouraging results lend weight in clinical education to the pairing of both formal and informal learning and development opportunities which support coaching focused feedback practice that enocourage reflection We contend that a focus on coaching in feedback practice, such as that seen here is also increasingly mindful of the learner perspectives and the complex interplay of personality as part of institutional processes and supports dialogues that may encourage feedback uptake (Freeman et al, 2020 ; Winstone et al, 2017a , b ).These coaching dialogues move away from more traditional, educator centric, feedback practices that include vague, descriptive or evaluative feedback that is generally known to have limited usefulness (Bösner et al, 2017 ; Shaughness et al, 2017 ). Often technology-mediated methods of feedback delivery can encourage a one-way, transmission approach where learners focus on grade rather than feedback and understanding (Carless & Boud, 2018 ; Winstone et al, 2020 ).…”

“…This study only examined written feedback in one dental school, it is unclear how these findings would apply in other educational settings. From research, we are aware that similar settings, using similar approaches, experience similar challenges (see, for example, Freeman et al, 2020 ). However application may differ across settings, as exemplified by Bussey and Griffiths ( 2017 ) and further research continues to be warranted in this area.…”

“…If feedback messages are to translate to action which support the learner in implementing change, educators must be aware of complex interplay of factors, such as interpersonal relationships, delivery of message and emotions. These factors can act as barriers to development if institutional systems are not appropriately designed and supported (Freeman et al, 2020 ; Jellicoe & Forsythe, 2019 ; Winstone et al, 2017a , b ; Weidinger et al, 2016 ).…”

“…Dawson and colleagues ( 2019 , p. 25) report that effective feedback comments ‘are usable, detailed, considerate of affect and personalised to the student’s own work’. In addition, Freeman et al ( 2020 ) indicated that learners in UK dental schools value feedback when institutional processes are well designed and supported. However, several authors suggest that many clinicians have no training as educators, and therefore are not aware of how to give good feedback, often having been recipients of poor feedback themselves (Bush et al, 2013 ; Clynes & Raftery, 2008 ; Tekian et al, 2017 ).…”

Incivility in online learning environment: Perception of dental students and faculty

“…At the same time, it also promotes civility by timely identifying and dealing with disruptive behaviors in OLE. Qualitative research on understanding students’ use of feedback showed that many students valued feedback to improve their performance regardless of grades or the outcome of the assessment 30 . In contrast, the strategic learners in the same study were disinterested in feedback if they had passing grades 30 …”