Status of the Textbooks Used by the Dentistry Students of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Iran (2018)

Abstract

Background: The inappropriate use of pamphlets rather than textbooks is an educational problem faced by most students. Note-taking and reading pamphlets rather than reading textbooks regardless of defects and shortcomings with their own structure cannot cover the required materials for students. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the status of the textbooks used by the dentistry students of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (KUMS), Iran. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on the students of the dentistry school of KUMS. In total, 148 students were selected via random sampling. Data were collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 18. Results: In total, 67.6% of the students used the content presented by professors in the class, and only 2% used the original English textbooks of dentistry. The analysis of the priorities of the type of resource indicated that the highest frequency belonged to the use of printed pamphlets (55.4%), and the lowest frequency belonged to the use of printed versions and electronic audio files (0.7%). Additionally, evaluation of access to resources showed the maximum frequency of a group pamphlet to be 35.8%, while the lowest frequency belonged to the pamphlet prepared by others (2.7%). Conclusions: According to the results, the students showed great interest in note-taking and reading pamphlets rather than reading textbooks. The insufficient fluency of students in English, high costs of reference books, and a large amount of resources made the students more likely to use pamphlets.

Attitude of dental students toward evidence-based dentistry in Iran: A systematic review

“…Seven studies were cross-sectional[ 5 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 ] and two were experimental or quasi-experimental by pre-post interventional design. [ 17 18 ] In one study which was about the effectiveness of the education, the design was analytically cross-sectional, so it was included in the descriptive studies.…”

“…[ 5 ] for the assessment of the attitude of dental students toward EBD. Two studies did not explain properly about their data collection tools, however, as they used a 12-item questionnaire it is expected to be the one developed by Khavid et al .,[ 14 ] and Sarani et al . [ 15 ] In one study, the questionnaire was the translated form of Hendricson et al .…”

“…Totally, 934 dental students were evaluated regarding their attitude toward EBD all around the country. The participants of 4 studies were in the 3 rd year and above,[ 11 12 15 17 ] two studies at the 5 th or 6 th year of their education,[ 5 10 ] however, one study was among the postgraduate students[ 16 ] and one study in all of the senior and junior dental students[ 14 ] [ Table 2 ].…”