Evaluating Dental Students’ Preferences of the Current Assessment Methods Used in Dental Education and their Impact on Learning Approaches

Assessment is a critical component of the educational experience. The purpose of this study was to examine dental students’ assessment preferences and their relation to students’ approaches to learning. The study also investigates the impact of gender, age, GPA and class level on dental students’ assessment preferences. Two hundred sixteen dental students at University of the Pacific Arthur Dugoni School of Dentistry have completed a self-reported 67-item questionnaire. Open-ended questions requiring long answers were the least preferred assessment method as perceived by the dental students, while multiple-choice questions are the most preferred assessment method. Deep approach to learning was significantly and positively correlated with oral test, alternative test, concept map, open-ended questions and questions that require higher order thinking. Surface approach to learning, however, was not significantly correlated with any assessment type. Age, gender, GPA and class level all have significant impact on dental students’ assessments preferences