Are There Differences in Technical Assessment Grades Between Adjunct and Full-Time Dental Faculty? A Pilot Study.

Some dental students preferentially schedule graded assessments with adjunct faculty members in expectation of obtaining a higher grade. The aim of this pilot study was to compare the grades given by full-time and adjunct faculty members in clinical periodontics to determine if a difference in grading existed. Grades for students given by seven full-time and 11 adjunct faculty members for various technical and competency assessments in D3 and D4 clinical periodontics courses in academic year 2015-16 were compared. Associations between grades and faculty type were sought using mixed model regression to account for correlations among a student's scores. A total of 845 technical assessment and competency scores from 208 students in the two classes were included in the analysis. Scores were for four procedures: periodontal examination and treatment planning, scaling and root planing, evaluation of initial therapy, and periodontal maintenance. Full-time faculty members graded 58% of the assessments, and 42% were scored by adjunct faculty members. Grades for the adjunct faculty were on average 0.14 (out of 5) higher than those for the full-time faculty (p<0.0001). The number of graded assessments was also significantly associated with a higher average score, suggesting potential student bias toward selecting faculty members who grade more favorably (p<0.0001). These students generally received higher grades from adjunct faculty members, whereas the grades given by full-time faculty members were closer in average and more consist with each other. The results point to the need for more calibration training for adjunct faculty members.

Influence of Self-Assessment on Dental Students' Performance on Technical Assessments in Periodontics.

Self-assessments were introduced into a third-year clinical periodontics course to enable dental students to self-assess and receive faculty feedback prior to technical assessment. The aims of this study were to determine if there was an improvement in the pass rate and average grade on the technical assessments following implementation of self-assessments and to analyze the accuracy of the student self-assessments by comparing them with faculty assessments. Scores from 106 third-year dental students for four periodontal procedures were included in the analysis. Faculty and student self-assessment scores, along with self-assessment and final technical assessments scores, were compared, as were the average number of self-assessment attempts for the various procedures and the pass rates. The average number of self-assessments per student was 6.5 compared to 4.2 for the technical assessments. There was no significant difference between students' self-assessment scores and faculty scores (average difference=0.005; p=0.7894). However, there was a significant increase in overall scores between students' self-assessments and technical assessments (average difference: 0.30 out of 5; p=0.0001). There was also a significant difference in pass rate between self-assessments and technical assessments (92.3% and 99.7%, respectively). The individual technical assessment with the greatest improvement was for scaling and root planing (average difference=0.47; p=0.0001), which also had significantly more self-assessments (2.3 vs. 1.2-1.7, p=0.0001). These results suggest that self-assessment and the subsequent faculty feedback provided students with information that enabled them to improve their performance on technical assessments.