1Dental Student, Dept. of Restorative Dentistry & Prosthodontics, University of Texas School of Dentistry, Houston
2Associate Professor & Vice Chair, Dept. of Restorative Dentistry & Prosthodontics, University of Texas School of Dentistry, Houston
*Corresponding Author: Email: ryan.quock@uth.tmc.edu
Online published on 21 September, 2016.
The purpose of this study was to examine the value of initial student near-peer directed study sessions for a dental school biomedical science core course.
A standardized pre-post questionnaire was administered prior to and immediately after the designated block of study sessions to collect subjective, experiential participant response to near-peer study sessions. Comparison analysis of participants’ final grades in the course selected for coverage in near-peer study sessions was retrospectively performed.
17% of first year dental students voluntarily participated in the near-peer study sessions. Frequency of participation in the study sessions seemed inversely related to student confidence levels and grade achievement in the biomedical science core course.
Near-peer led study sessions in a dental school are valuable to students who enter dental school with low confidence in their pre-dental educational preparation. Survey instruments that gauge student confidence levels at baseline may be predictive of student need for near-peer or other additional learning opportunities.
Basic sciences, Critical thinking, Dental school, Near-peer
