ABSTRACT
AIM: The present study was designed to investigate whether a logbook helps undergraduate students to develop the ability to self-reflect and to increase their self-awareness. METHODS: A logbook was introduced to 54 dental students in their fourth year of education at the beginning of the paediatric dentistry course. The students filled in a questionnaire on learning styles at the start of the course and after 12 months. RESULTS: The results showed that at the end of the course significantly fewer students wished to be given detailed instructions to solve problems. Significantly more students felt able to expose both their weaknesses and strengths in clinical competence in the presence of their teachers. Students who reported a good knowledge of their own clinical skills found feedback from instructors more constructive compared with those who reported less good knowledge. CONCLUSION: For a large group of students, the logbook stimulated self-reflection, learning from personal clinical experience, and an increase in knowledge about their weaknesses and strengths in clinical competence.
Subject(s)
Education, Dental , Pediatric Dentistry/education , Self-Assessment , Students, Dental , Teaching Materials , Adult , Clinical Competence , Feedback , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Learning , Male , Problem Solving , Self Concept , Self Efficacy , Statistics, Nonparametric , Teaching/methodsSubject(s)
Aptitude Tests , Education, Medical , Interviews as Topic , Evaluation Studies as Topic , Female , Humans , Male , Motivation , SwedenABSTRACT
The undergraduate dental curriculum in Swedish dental schools has recently been changed. The aim of this study was to estimate the opinions of recently qualified dentists concerning their undergraduate education received according to the old curriculum. A questionnaire was mailed to all graduates who qualified from the dental school in Huddinge between 1981-1983. The response rate was 71%. The respondents indicated that their theoretical knowledge was in general better in subjects closely related to clinical dentistry compared with basic biological subjects or behavioural science subjects. In most subjects clinical competence was closely related to the level of theoretical knowledge. The results of this study suggest that the "old" dental curriculum was successful in imparting knowledge concerning traditional dental subjects and preventive dentistry, but less successful in imparting knowledge concerning basic and medical sciences, behavioural subjects and in relating theoretical and practical skills.
