Damian Torres - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Damian Torres

European Journal of Dental Education, 2020

OBJECTIVE Although assessment is essential to accurately represent student learning, little is cu... more OBJECTIVE Although assessment is essential to accurately represent student learning, little is currently known about student and faculty perceptions of assessment in dental schools. Our study aimed to explore faculty and student views of didactic and clinical assessments in the School of Dentistry at the University of Alberta. METHOD Qualitative description informed the study design. Data were collected through focus groups and analyzed inductively using manifest content analysis. RESULTS Five focus groups were conducted with faculty (n=34) and three with students (n=19). Faculty and student views of assessment were related to improvements made (perceived positive changes), improvements needed (perceived limitations), and improvements recommended (recommendations to improve perceived limitations). Faculty and students reported that improvements made (e.g., adequacy of assessment to students' levels of training) varied across instructors, courses, and learning environments. Both faculty and students perceived clinical assessments as less appropriate than didactic assessments. Faculty perceived limitations were mostly related to assessment appropriateness, especially assessment accuracy and comprehensiveness, while student perceived limitations included other issues related to appropriateness (e.g., misalignment with course objectives) as well as issues related to assessment volume, pace, and scheduling. Similarly, faculty recommendations focused on enhancing the assessment of clinical competencies, while students' recommendations aimed to also improve assessment scheduling, volume, and usage (e.g., for learning purposes). CONCLUSIONS Faculty and student views of assessment complemented one another. Our data show that assessment in dental education is multidimensional, so that multi-level strategies may be needed to improve this component of dental curricula.

European Journal of Dental Education, 2021

The behavioural sciences curriculum in dental education is often fragmented and its clinical rele... more The behavioural sciences curriculum in dental education is often fragmented and its clinical relevance is not always apparent to learners. Curriculum integration is vital to understand behavioural subjects that are interrelated but frequently delivered as separate issues in dental programmes. In this commentary, we discuss behavioural change as a curricular theme that can integrate behavioural sciences in dental programmes. Specifically, we discuss behavioural change in the context of dental education guidelines and describe four general phases of behavioural change (defining the target behaviour, identifying the behavioural determinants, applying appropriate behavioural change techniques and evaluating the behavioural intervention) to make the case for content that can be covered within this curricular theme, including its sequencing. This commentary is part of ongoing efforts to improve the behavioural sciences curriculum in dental education in order to ensure that dental students develop the behavioural competencies required for entry-level general dentists.

Focus on Health Professional Education: A Multi-Professional Journal, 2016

European Journal of Dental Education, 2020

OBJECTIVE Although assessment is essential to accurately represent student learning, little is cu... more OBJECTIVE Although assessment is essential to accurately represent student learning, little is currently known about student and faculty perceptions of assessment in dental schools. Our study aimed to explore faculty and student views of didactic and clinical assessments in the School of Dentistry at the University of Alberta. METHOD Qualitative description informed the study design. Data were collected through focus groups and analyzed inductively using manifest content analysis. RESULTS Five focus groups were conducted with faculty (n=34) and three with students (n=19). Faculty and student views of assessment were related to improvements made (perceived positive changes), improvements needed (perceived limitations), and improvements recommended (recommendations to improve perceived limitations). Faculty and students reported that improvements made (e.g., adequacy of assessment to students' levels of training) varied across instructors, courses, and learning environments. Both faculty and students perceived clinical assessments as less appropriate than didactic assessments. Faculty perceived limitations were mostly related to assessment appropriateness, especially assessment accuracy and comprehensiveness, while student perceived limitations included other issues related to appropriateness (e.g., misalignment with course objectives) as well as issues related to assessment volume, pace, and scheduling. Similarly, faculty recommendations focused on enhancing the assessment of clinical competencies, while students' recommendations aimed to also improve assessment scheduling, volume, and usage (e.g., for learning purposes). CONCLUSIONS Faculty and student views of assessment complemented one another. Our data show that assessment in dental education is multidimensional, so that multi-level strategies may be needed to improve this component of dental curricula.

European Journal of Dental Education, 2021

The behavioural sciences curriculum in dental education is often fragmented and its clinical rele... more The behavioural sciences curriculum in dental education is often fragmented and its clinical relevance is not always apparent to learners. Curriculum integration is vital to understand behavioural subjects that are interrelated but frequently delivered as separate issues in dental programmes. In this commentary, we discuss behavioural change as a curricular theme that can integrate behavioural sciences in dental programmes. Specifically, we discuss behavioural change in the context of dental education guidelines and describe four general phases of behavioural change (defining the target behaviour, identifying the behavioural determinants, applying appropriate behavioural change techniques and evaluating the behavioural intervention) to make the case for content that can be covered within this curricular theme, including its sequencing. This commentary is part of ongoing efforts to improve the behavioural sciences curriculum in dental education in order to ensure that dental students develop the behavioural competencies required for entry-level general dentists.

Focus on Health Professional Education: A Multi-Professional Journal, 2016