Benefits of combined quantitative and qualitative evaluation of learning experience in a gerodontology course for dental
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Benefits of combined quantitative and qualitative evaluation of learning experience in a gerodontology course for dental students Ragna Lamprecht1* , Jennifer Guse2, Martin Schimmel3, Frauke Müller4, Guido Heydecke1 and Daniel R. Reissmann1
Abstract Objectives: The oral health status of long-term care (LTC) facility residents is often poor, and acceptance of dental services by the elderly is irregular and mostly problem-driven. The perceived knowledge gap due to insufficient under- or postgraduate education and training in gerodontology might present a barrier for dentists to provide domiciliary care. This study aimed to develop a high-quality student course in gerodontology. Methods: A total of 52 undergraduate dental students (age: 23.4 ± 2.1 yrs., 81% female) participated in a novel oneyear gerodontology course and were included in this prospective study. The course was organized over two semesters, comprising two consecutive modules (one theoretical and one practical). The evaluation after the first semester applied a 16-item questionnaire with an ordinal 6-point response scale ranging from “not satisfied at all” (0) to “very satisfied” (5) for quantitative evaluation, and free-text comments as the qualitative part. These qualitative findings were used for validating the satisfaction questionnaire by triangulation, and to identify potential issues for improving the course. Satisfaction scores of the second evaluation after 1 year were used to assess potential effects of course modifications by comparing the participant satisfaction scores between both evaluations. Results: Satisfaction scores of 3.6 ± 0.7 after the first semester indicated students’ initial satisfaction. The lowest satisfaction was observed for timeframe (2.6 ± 1.3) and interdisciplinary education (3.0 ± 1.4). The qualitative evaluation confirmed not only the ratings but also provided potential explanations, which were addressed by modifying the course accordingly. The effect of the modifications on participant evaluation was reflected by substantially improved satisfaction scores at the second assessment in 14 of 16 items, with a significant increase in overall satisfaction from 3.6 ± 0.7 to 4.0 ± 0.4 (p = 0.008). Conclusion: A combined quantitative and qualitative evaluation is a successful method for developing, evaluating, and improving a gerodontology course for dental students with high student satisfaction. Keywords: Gerodontology, Education, Teaching, Dental students, Quantitative evaluation, Qualitative evaluation
* Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, Center for Dental and Oral Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long a
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