Longitudinal assessment of undergraduate dental students: Building evidence for validity

Dickie, J., Sherriff, A. , McEwan, M. , Bell, A. and Busuttil Naudi, K. (2023) Longitudinal assessment of undergraduate dental students: Building evidence for validity. European Journal of Dental Education, 27(4), pp. 1136-1150. (doi: 10.1111/eje.12908) (PMID:37141495)

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Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the content and criterion validity, and reliability of longitudinal clinical assessment of undergraduate dental student clinical competence by determining patterns of clinical performance and comparing them with validated standalone undergraduate examinations. Methods: Group-based trajectory models tracking students' clinical performance over time were produced from LIFTUPP© data for three dental student cohorts (2017–19; n = 235) using threshold models based on the Bayesian information criterion. Content validity was investigated using LIFTUPP© performance indicator 4 as the threshold for competence. Criterion validity was investigated using performance indicator 5 to create distinct trajectories of performance before linking and cross-tabulating trajectory group memberships with a ‘top 20%’ performance in the final Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) examinations. Reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha. Results: Threshold 4 models showed all students followed a single upward trajectory in all three cohorts, showing clear progression in competence over three clinical BDS years. A threshold 5 model produced two distinct trajectories, and in each cohort a ‘better performing’ trajectory was identified. Students allocated to the ‘better performing’ trajectories scored higher on average in the final examinations for cohort 2 (29% vs 18% (BDS4); 33% vs. 15% (BDS5)) and cohort 3 (19% vs. 16% (BDS4); 21% vs. 16% (BDS5)). Reliability for the undergraduate examinations was high for all three cohorts (≥0.8815) and did not change appreciably when longitudinal assessment was included. Conclusions: There is some evidence to support that longitudinal data have a degree of content and criterion validity for assessing the development of clinical competence in undergraduate dental students, which should increase confidence in decisions based on these data. The findings also provide a good foundation for subsequent research.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Bell, Professor Aileen and McEwan, Dr Michael and Sherriff, Professor Andrea and Dickie, Mr Jamie and Busuttil Naudi, Dr Kurt
Authors: Dickie, J., Sherriff, A., McEwan, M., Bell, A., and Busuttil Naudi, K.
Subjects:L Education > L Education (General)
R Medicine > RK Dentistry
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing > Dental School
University Services > Student and Academic Services > Academic Services
Journal Name:European Journal of Dental Education
Journal Abbr.:EJDE
Publisher:Wiley
ISSN:1396-5883
ISSN (Online):1600-0579
Published Online:04 May 2023
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2023 The Authors
First Published:First published in European Journal of Dental Education 27(4): 1136-1150
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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