A systematic literature review of assessment feedback in preclinical dental education

Abstract

Introduction Development of evaluative judgement abilities through assessment and feedback strategies is crucial in students’ progress to become self‐regulated lifelong learners. Dentists’ ability to appraise the quality of treatment provided to their patients starts with development of competences in a simulated preclinical training environment. However, the effectiveness of these assessment and feedback strategies is not well understood. Material and methods This literature review aimed to identify the assessment and feedback interventions and their effect on dental students’ appraisal and psychomotor skills during preclinical training. A search of the electronic databases PubMed, Ebscohost (Dentistry and Oral Health), Scopus, Web of Science and EMBASE was conducted of studies published until October 2019. Results Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. Two studies were randomised controlled trials and ten non‐randomised studies. All studies included students’ self‐assessment and grading criteria as part of their feedback interventions. Feedback utilisation training was reported in 66% of the included studies. Evidence suggests feedback strategies improve psychomotor skills and increase agreement between students’ and teachers’ awarded grades. However, these improvements vary with the complexity of the task. Only one study shows self‐directed learning significantly contributing to students’ psychomotor skill improvement. Conclusion Although assessment and feedback are regarded as crucial for developing students’ evaluative judgement capabilities to become self‐regulated lifelong learners, there is limited empirical evidence of the assessment and feedback conditions that enhance students’ judgement abilities, performance and self‐regulation. Further research is needed to investigate and compare the effect of different assessment and feedback interventions on students’ appraisal skills, their impact on learning and self‐regulation.

Students’ preferences regarding teaching methodology in dental education – a cross-sectional study

“…In our study, a vast majority of subjects were more satisfied with interactive form of teaching like problem based lectures, interactive lectures, small group teachings etc. Results similar to our study have also been reported in previous studies (10)(11)(12)(13). The reason could be that interactive teaching methods involve bilateral communication, which plays a very important role in enhancing student's interest during the lectures.…”

“…The student feedback is very important in providing information to the teacher regarding the effectiveness of various teaching methods. This information can be useful for the teacher to bring about modifications in their teaching strategies so as to improve the quality of education (10,11).…”

Feedback for Learning in Pharmacy Education: A Scoping Review

“…The included articles in this review demonstrate the relative paucity of utilization and impact of feedback within the pharmacy education literature. Much of what is known about feedback and how to provide feedback in pharmacy, dental, and medical education is based on little to no high-quality evidence, thus evidence-based recommendations are lacking [ 9 , 80 ]. A recent systematic review of feedback within nursing education, however, found quality feedback as described by students to be timely, incorporate positive and constructive comments, be directly related to the content, linguistically clear, and feed forward or justify a grade [ 81 ].…”

Longitudinal Curricular Assessment of Knowledge and Awareness of Intimate Partner Violence among First-Year Dental Students

“…As more evidence accumulates that demonstrates many of the skills and competencies carried into professional practice are first developed in the educational setting, reviews, assessments, and feedback of preclinical dental education regarding important, but often overlooked, healthcare issues such as DV and IPV become more imperative [ 44 , 45 ]. The function of educational research in the assessment and evaluation of this type of training in the context of public health, particularly for healthcare students with areas of specialty that may be uniquely suited to finding, reporting, treating, and referring patients at risk for DV and IPV, has also become evident [ 46 , 47 , 48 ].…”