A general survey on learners and faculty perspectives on educational activities held in the National Dental Centre, Singapore

Abstract

Background: The National Dental Centre Singapore (NDCS) has been educating learners since the late 1980s. However, in this time, no formal feedback about these educational activities has been garnered from education stakeholders (comprising learners and faculty). Furthermore, no formal faculty development efforts to improve the educational activities have been done. Purpose: The aim of the study was to collect data from learners about the NDCS’s educational activities and the faculty’s attitude towards teaching. Methods: A survey was administered to 239 education stakeholders from May to July 2015. The survey on learners focused on learners’ perceptions on the importance and frequency of the One-Minute Preceptor (OMP) five-step microskills model of clinical teaching, and the quality and quantity of teaching overall. For faculty, the survey focused on their attitudes around teaching. Results: A total of 92 responses were received from learners. Learners perceived the OMP elements to be important (mean Likert scores ranged from 4.13–4.44 out of 5). However, they reported infrequent use of this teaching model by the faculty (range 3.06–3.50 out of 5). While learners reported quality and content of teaching to be adequate, they felt the number of clinical hours for teaching could be increased. The faculty reported positive attitudes towards teaching. Conclusion: This study provided educators with valuable feedback on the NDCS’s educational activities, identifying strengths and weaknesses of the programmes that they can work towards improving.