Oral health educators' reflections on teaching 2022 and beyond.

INTRODUCTION: The global pandemic prompted changes in health science education affecting both teaching and learning. This multi-institutional study assesses the near-term implications of these changes on faculty and faculty development. The project goals were to: (1) describe faculty experiences of teaching during the pandemic; (2) identify ways to sustain new pedagogical approaches, (3) describe the types of support faculty members need, and (4) offer recommendations to enhance oral health professions education. METHODS: A mixed-method approach using exploratory sequential design was conducted in two phases collecting qualitative and quantitative data. Focus group participants included didactic, pre-clinical, and clinical faculty in dental school (DMD/DDS), dental hygiene and dental therapy programs, and also faculty members serving in administrative roles in these programs (N = 37). One hundred forty-four faculty participated in the multi-institutional follow-up survey. RESULTS: Focus group and survey results led to 14 recommendations (nine structural and five individual) for oral health profession institutions and educators. CONCLUSION: Oral health profession education faculty were dramatically impacted by the pandemic and new faculty development needs were identified. Traditional faculty development topics and practices may be no longer applicable in the post-COVID-19 environment. Additionally, the pandemic stimulated creative approaches for curriculum design, teaching, and assessment in oral health profession education. Strategies need to be implemented to sustain these innovations.

Reliability of a grading rubric designed to evaluate the reflective ability of predoctoral dental students.

INTRODUCTION: Reflection and self-assessment are critical skills for healthcare providers. Identification of gaps in knowledge, skills and attitudes, along with the ability to critically think and problem solve to fill gaps, is the ultimate outcome for lifelong learning. The aims of this study were to (a) refine an instrument used for measuring reflective ability, and conduct comprehensive reliability testing, and (b) describe a process for rater calibration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Students develop e-portfolios over a four-year span with assignments that require reflection and self-assessment. The final piece of the portfolio includes a global reflection written the last semester of the programme. Three faculty raters independently evaluated 106 dental students' global reflections using the revised grading rubric. An intraclass correlation coefficient measured the level of agreement between the three raters. RESULTS: Analysis of the 318 faculty ratings (106/rater) resulted in an intraclass correlation of .708. Based on a 5-point grading scale (0 = does not respond to the assignment to 5 = reconstructing), the ratings of the 106 global reflections ranged from 1.3 to 5.0 (M = 3.1, SD =0.66). DISCUSSION: This study provides confidence in the reliability of a grading rubric designed to assess reflective ability, along with suggestions for calibration. An overall mean of 3.1 (Level 3 = relating-includes evidence of lessons learned) illustrates the complexity of teaching reflection and self-assessment. CONCLUSION: Use of a reliable grading rubric for assessing reflective writing could assist schools interested in incorporating reflection and self-assessment into the curriculum, ultimately supporting lifelong and enhanced health care.

Measuring the Level of Reflective Ability of Predoctoral Dental Students: Early Outcomes in an e-Portfolio Reflection.

Learning to evaluate one's own skills through reflection and self-assessment prepares dental graduates for successfully navigating an ever-changing work environment throughout their careers, but the search continues for the most effective teaching and assessment strategies to develop students' skills in these areas. Beginning with the Class of 2017, the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry adopted e-portfolios as a programmatic (four-year) global assessment measure in the predoctoral dental program, in large part to encourage the development of reflection. The aim of this study was twofold: to examine interrater reliability among raters when scoring reflective writing using a validated measure of reflection skill and to analyze students' level of reflective ability as fourth-year dental students. Reflections of all 102 students were independently evaluated by the three investigators using a grading rubric based on Bain's 5 Rs (reporting, responding, relating, reasoning/deconstructing, reconstructing). Intra-class correlation was used to assess interrater reliability among the three raters, resulting in a good range for agreement (ICC=0.67; 95% CI 0.54, 0.77). The results showed that the majority (70%) of the global reflections were rated at Level 2 (responding) and Level 3 (relating). Approximately 15% of the global reflections reached Level 4 (reasoning/deconstructing), and only one was rated at the highest level (Level 5, reconstructing). This study confirmed that reflection and reflective writing were difficult for students to accomplish. As a result, curricular enhancements at this school have been implemented that involve both faculty and student development. Ongoing evaluation is required to determine if those changes result in higher levels of reflective ability. The positive outcomes of reflection and writing warrant continued examination in how to improve this educational strategy across the curriculum.