Value of self-assessment as a learning tool in dental education and practice: A descriptive study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Self-assessment (SA) skills are integral to lifelong learning process as they are a mode to share educational responsibility. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the dental undergraduate student's perception, practice of SA, and its impact over their academic and clinical performance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 444 dental students regarding practice of SA in their academic and clinical practice across all the years for a period of 3 months. Data were collected by a pilot-tested self-administered structured questionnaire adopting convenient sampling and analyzed using SPSS Version 22 Software. RESULTS: Mean score for the value of SA skill as a learning tool was lower (60.21 ± 4.83) among 3rd-year dental students and highest (65.26 ± 4.69) among interns with an overall mean score of 62.59 ± 5.27, and the results of one-way ANOVA revealed that the year-wise mean score difference was statistically significant. The post hoc test revealed that the mean score for value of SA skills was significantly different between 1st-year and 3rd-year students. Although undergraduate students valued the need of SA skills for lifelong learning process, there is paucity toward their ability to accurately perform SA. CONCLUSION: In the context of how SA is perceived by dental undergraduates, our study suggests that the acceptability of SA is seldom explored. The focused responses of the participants of this study underline the importance and need of training and practicing SA skills in dental undergraduate curriculum.

Keywords

• competency-based education
• dental education
• self-assessment skill
• undergraduate students