Progress Testing; An Assessment Tool in a Graduate Dental Programme

Objectives: Progress testing (PT) is an integrated assessment tool designed to meet the requirements of problem based curricula. Students in all years sit the same test simultaneously and progress is indexed by a steady improvement in scores with passage through the programme. Tests are set regularly, and test items are designed to align learning to the clinical situations students may meet on graduation. Because it is standardised, it allows for comparison between tests and for early recognition of learning problems. The foundations of our PT, the first to be used in Dentistry, have been described at earlier meetings. We now report for the first time on how students across all years of a dental programme have responded to it. Methods: PT's were delivered biannually to dental students in all years at Peninsula Dental School since its opening in 2007. The design of each test has been considered previously ( IADR Barcelona, 2010). Tests were formative for the first 2 years of the programme and summative from Year 3. The passing standard was established by a combination of Angoff and Hoftsee methodologies, and has been informed by data from a parallel study funded by COPDEND into the performance of dental vocational trainees. Results: There was a statistically significant stepwise increase in PT scores from year to year through the programme. This trend was sustained with successive cohorts. Students found the tests challenging, but its value as a learning tool depended on the quality and rapidity of feedback delivered to them. Conclusions: Progress testing is a contemporary assessment tool which readily adapts to the dental curriculum. It is contextualised and adaptable and can readily distinguish between students at successive stages of the dental programme.