Comparison between students' self-evaluation and faculty members' evaluation in a clinical endodontic course at King Saud University.

INTRODUCTION

The objective of this study was to compare faculty member evaluations with student self-evaluations in a clinical endodontic course in the dental school at King Saud University and to evaluate the reliability of the students' self-assessment scores after using a rubric with well-defined criteria.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Evaluated and self-evaluated endodontic cases that were clinically treated by the fourth-year undergraduate dental students at the College of Dentistry, Girls University Campus, at King Saud University over 2 years (2017-2018) were included. Cases included anterior teeth, premolars and molars. The evaluation form was divided into six sections with well-defined criteria to cover all aspects of nonsurgical root canal treatment with a maximum grade of 10 points can be scored for each student per case. The students evaluated themselves for each section and then were evaluated by two faculty members. Student and faculty assessment agreement and the reliability of the students' self-assessment scores were measured. A p ≤ .05 was considered significant.

RESULTS

A total of 363 cases were included: 26.7% anterior teeth, 38.84% premolars and 34.43% molars. The students evaluated themselves with higher grades compared to the evaluators' grading in all steps and in the overall grading in all teeth types. The students' self-assessment scores showed good and moderate reliability in all steps and in the overall grading.

CONCLUSION

The students tend to overrate their performance, and their assessments have moderate to good reliability, which reflects the reliability of the rubric used as an accurate measurement tool that helps the evaluator and the student objectively assess their performance.