Student self-evaluation in preclinical restorative dentistry.

In this study an instrument for assessing student self-evaluation skills was developed and refined. Using this instrument, the relationship between student self-evaluation skills and psychomotor skill performance was assessed for freshman dental students in a preclinical restorative dentistry laboratory. While previous research suggests that student self-evaluation skills are positively correlated with technical skills, the results of this study indicate that students' technical skills, as evidenced by the faculty-assigned practical grades, did not differentiate students' self-evaluation skills (p less than .05). In addition, student grades did not differentiate the students' ability to recognize errors. Using this investigative method, no relationship emerged between students' self-evaluation skills and technical skills. Finally, this self-evaluation instrument appears to be an excellent way to reveal to faculty those aspects of psychomotor skill development that need to be emphasized.