Effect of Pre/Post Testing before and after Lectures

Objectives: Although various teaching strategies have been performed in dental schools, lectures are still mainstream method of educating. Since we tested pre lecture testing (pre-test) and post lecture testing (post-test), each score was analyzed to find the intrinsic factors to develop an effective lecture style.

Methods: Over an eight-week period, eight sets of lectures on crown and bridge were given to 107 dental students who were in their 4th year in Meikai University. The same 10 basic topics were presented before and after the lecture. All the topics in the pre/post test were explained in the lecture on the same day. The students were required to choose one of answers: "correct", "wrong", and "don't know". They were also required to record their seat location in the lecture room by choosing one of the following: front-right block (FR), front-center block (FC), front-left block (FL), rear-right block (RR), rear-center block (RC), and rear-left block (RL), however, neither name nor ID number of individual students were required. Accuracy rates between pre-test and post-test for the same topic were compared; moreover differences among seat locations were also analyzed.

Results: Accuracy rates of response to the topics were 49.5±20.2% and 69.5±15.8% in pre-test and post-test, respectively (p<0.01, Wilcoxon test). In post-test, mean score of all topics showed a significantly higher in FC (7.46±1.99) than the other sections (6.08 - 6.37) (p<0.05, Scheffe's test). In post-test results, relatively unchanged or decreased scores point out topics that should be covered at the next opportunity.

Conclusions: Utilizing pre/post-test has value to grasp comprehensive understanding before and after lecture. Since long lasting effect is not determined yet, further evaluation will be needed.