Comparison of Performance on MCQ and Preclinical Practical Assessment at the End of Two Different Fixed Prosthodontic Semesters

Abstract

Objectives: This study's objective was to examine the outcomes of pre-clinical practical tests and multiple-choice questions on fixed prosthodontics from various semesters for the same student group. Material and Methods: This correlational study was conducted at the University of Tripoli's - Tripoli Dental Faculty - in the fixed prosthodontics department. The results of the MCQs and preclinical practical assessments were taken at the end of two different semesters. The group of dental students who were involved in this study was the same but they studied in two different semesters. The first semester was in Autumn 2018 and the second was in Spring 2019. The result of MCQs was obtained from the first semester at the end of the Autumn 2018 semester and the result of the preclinical practical assessment was obtained at the end of the Spring 2019 semester. These results were analyzed by using SPSS in order to compare these results. Results: Data was collected from 232 students. The distribution of data was normal. The mean and standard deviation of scores for students were 34.61±6.66 for MCQs and 19.88±7.53 for the preclinical practical assessment. For the total number of students (N=232), a paired t-test was used to compare the results of the two exams (t = 23.314, d = 231, p 0.001). In order to use independed t-test, the number of females was reduced randomly to 47 students to ensure that female and male samples are similar in terms of number. The findings show that there was no statistically significant difference in both genders, however, females performed slightly better in both exams than males. Conclusion: The achievement according to the domain varied. In the MCQs than in the preclinical practical exam, students did better. They had poor performance in the preclinical skills. Comparatively, female students performed better.