The aim of this study was to design and validate the Dental Psychomotor Skills (DePS) test as an instrument to assess dental students’ psychomotor skills and to help educators adapt their academic practices to students’ needs. The DePS test was created considering three of the main skills needed for dental study and practice. The dimensions measured in the test were Indirect Vision (IV) with 24 items, Instructions Follow‐Up (FI) with 17 items, and Accuracy (A) with six items; each item was assessed at two stations. Scores were obtained with detailed rubrics, assessed by the same evaluator at each station. A total of 237 first‐year dental students, in four cohorts from 2012 to 2015, and 16 dental faculty instructors were evaluated. The construct validity of the instrument was supported by the rigorous build of ten stages, and the discriminative validity was supported by the comparison of the student and faculty results. The overall mean scores were 245.5±2.09 in the student group and 280.6±4.217 in the faculty group (difference: 35.15±7.00; p<0.001). Internal consistency was assessed by analyzing responses for each dimension using Cronbach's alpha, a statistical measure of reliability. Overall, Cronbach's alpha was 0.909 for dental students and 0.773 for faculty instructors. These results suggest that the DePS test is a valid test that could be used as a reliable basic skill tool at the beginning of the dental program to assess the abilities of novice dental students, to recognize student qualities, and to identify individuals requiring additional training.
Purpose Using Self‐determination Theory, the purpose was to determine whether work climate, students’ motivation, and teachers’ basic psychological needs could predict clinical teachers’ autonomous and controlled motivation to teach and whether clinical teachers’ motivations could predict student‐ and teacher‐centered teaching approaches Methods A correlational cross‐sectional study was conducted in 2018 across 3 Dental Schools in Chile, in which 206 clinical teachers participated (80.4% response rate). Data were collected on demographic characteristics and 5 self‐reported questionnaires measuring teachers’ perceptions of the work climate, students’ motivation, the satisfaction and frustration of their basic psychological needs, motivation to teach, and teaching approaches. Data were analyzed using bivariate correlations and structural equation modeling. Results Alpha coefficients were acceptable (0.701‐0.948). Correlation and structural equation modeling analyses showed that teachers’ perceiving a work climate characterized by a supportive supervisor‐teacher relationship and students’ autonomous motivation, predicted the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs leading to autonomous motivation to teach. Autonomous motivation to teach, in turn, predicted a student‐centered teaching approach. These results were controlled for the confounding effects of age, gender, teaching experience, and type of university. Conclusions These results suggest that clinical teachers' optimal motivation is of paramount importance for promoting an adequate learning environment. Therefore, efforts should be made to understand and foster different aspects that promote clinical teachers' satisfaction of their basic psychological needs and autonomous motivation, especially regarding the role of teachers’ supervisors and how teachers perceive their students’ motivation.
PurposeThis study aimed to determine how the general course experiences of dental students in Chile and the satisfaction or frustration of their basic psychological needs influenced their passion for studying, and how passion influenced students’ study strategies.MethodsA correlational cross-sectional study was conducted at 3 Chilean dental schools between April and June 2018, in which 935 undergraduate students participated. Students responded to Spanish-language versions of 4 psychological scale tools: the Course Experience Questionnaire, the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfac¬tion and Frustration Scale, the Passion Scale, and the Revised Study Process Questionnaire. Data were analysed with bivariate correlations and structural equation modelling, controlling for age, gender, year of study, and type of university.ResultsStudents’ general course experiences (i.e., good teaching, clear goals and standards, appropriate assessment, and appropriate workload) positively predicted basic need satisfaction and negatively predicted need frustration. Need satisfaction positively predicted passion in students, with stronger scores for harmonious passion. Basic need frustration positively predicted obsessive passion and negatively predicted harmonious passion. Harmonious passion positively predicted deep study strategies and negatively predicted surface study strategies, while obsessive passion positively predicted both deep and surface study strategies.ConclusionDental students’ optimal course experiences positively influenced the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs, which favoured harmonious over obsessive passion. In turn, harmonious over obsessive passion positively influenced deep study strategies. Therefore, efforts should be made to provide course experiences that support students’ basic needs and harmonious passion for studying, both in classroom and chair-side teaching.
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