Jun 2, 2006 - dents had not yet engaged in clinical patient care, den- tal students initially ... final day of class in- volved a pizza party with four peer-selected teams ..... Fox E, Arnold RM, Brody B. Medical ethics education: past, present and ...
Using a Multifaceted Approach Including Community-Based Service-Learning to Enrich Formal Ethics Instruction in a Dental School Setting Cynthia C. Gadbury-Amyot, B.S.D.H., Ed.D.; Melanie Simmer-Beck, R.D.H., M.S.; Michael McCunniff, D.D.S.; Karen B. Williams, Ph.D. Abstract: The purpose of this investigation was to examine the degree to which a multifaceted approach to formal ethics instruction including community-based service-learning can enrich the learning environment and how it influences students’ attitudes and perceptions about their role as oral health care providers, access to care, disparity, and working in a diverse community. Students’ attitudes were evaluated prior to and following the seven-week course to determine if community-based service-learning had any impact on their perceptions. Factor analysis was conducted; and based on the identified factor structure, subscales were computed and used for subsequent analyses of change in attitude over time (pre- and post-test results) and to compare assessment of experience between discipline groups (dental and dental hygiene) as well as gender. There was a statistically significant difference in student attitudes from the beginning of the course to the end about volunteering in the community (p=.036). Additionally, there was a statistically significant difference (p0.4. Based on the identified factor structure, subscales were computed and used for subsequent analyses of change in attitude over time (preand post-test results) and to compare assessment of experience between discipline groups (dental and dental hygiene) and gender. Qualitative data in the form of student reflections on the service-learning project were analyzed using the constant comparative method as outlined by Lincoln and Guba.17 Three faculty separately analyzed and unitized the data, ultimately reaching consensus on category topics.
Results
Dental Students Mean (SD) n=91
Journal of Dental Education
Dental Students n=91 (77%)
DH Students n=27 (23%)
Under 25 25-34 35-44
n=85 (93%) 66 (72.5) 17 (18.7) 2 (2.2)
n=21 (78%) 14 (51.9) 6 (22.2) 1 (3.7)
Male Female
n=77 (85%) 46 (50.5) 31 (34.1)
n=18 (67%) 0 18 (100%)
Caucasian African American Asian Hispanic Other
n=83 (91%) 75 (82.4) 1 (1.1) 5 (5.5) 1 (1.1) 1 (1.1)
n=22 (81%) 21 (77.8) 1 (3.7) 0 0 0
Age
Gender
Ethnicity
655
percent) participated in the post-test. All twentyseven dental hygiene students participated in the pretest, and nineteen (70 percent) participated in the post-test. Principal components analysis with Varimax rotation of the nine-item pre-test yielded a four factor solution accounting for 70.65 percent of total variance. Interpretable factors were labeled: Make a Difference, Real World, Cultural Competence, and Volunteerism. Table 3 displays the factor loadings of the rotated solution regarding attitudes toward community-based service-learning. Based on the identified factor structure, subscale scores were computed by summing item-level scores. A two-factor repeated measures ANOVA was used to examine change in students’ attitudes over time as a function of gender. Results showed that there were no statistically significant interactions between gender and time or main effect of gender for any of the attitudinal subscales. There was a statistically significant increase over time (time as main effect) for attitudes regarding “volunteerism” (Table 4). Principal components analysis with Varimax rotation of the twenty-six post-test items (minus the nine matching items from the pre-test) yielded a six factor solution accounting for 69.23 percent of total variance. Interpretable factors were labeled: Working with the Community, Course Impact on Career Choice and Personal Ability, Community Site Partnership, Effectiveness of Course, Cultural/Social, and
Willingness to Volunteer in the Future. Two items were dropped as a result of cross loading. Table 5 displays the factor loadings of the rotated solution regarding assessment of the service-learning project experience. Again, subscale scores were computed by summing item scores within each of the domains. Independent t-tests were used to compare differences across the six subscales between dental and dental hygiene students and gender. There was no statistically significant difference between dental and dental hygiene students’ assessment of the service-learning project experience. There was a statistically significant difference (p
