The Efficacy of Video-Supported Student Self-Assessment in Dental Simulation Training - A Prospective Cohort Study.

Introduction: Self-assessment is a higher-level ability required of health care practitioners, but rarely specifically taught in simulation environments. Retrospective evaluation of videos from simulated clinical environments could be useful for developing self-assessment proficiencies.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility and validity of student self-assessment performed using self-recorded videos of simulated clinical activities.

Methods: The study recruited second-year dental students and two educators of simulated periodontal instrumentation. The use of the instruments (curettes) for periodontal instrumentation was taught to students through instructional benchmarking videos. Following the practice on mannequins, students were given a periodontal instrumentation task to perform, video-record their performance, and self-assess following the bespoke assessment rubric. The anonymized students' videos were further assessed by two calibrated educators. To assess validity, independent Sample t-test was used to analyze the differences between student and tutor's assessment of the videos. Student perceptions of the utility of video self-assessment experience were gathered through a questionnaire and analyzed descriptively.

Results: Sixty-six students (N = 66) completed the self-assessment task and the questionnaire. There were no significant differences between student and educator evaluation of video data (p > 0.05). Students perceived that video assisted self-assessment following the rubric was easy and helpful and that educators' feedback on the video enabled them to better identify areas that needed improvement.

Conclusions: The results of this study showed that there were minimal differences between student self-assessment and educator assessment of video recordings. Video was perceived as a valuable method of self-assessment, thus assisting in learning periodontal instrumentation.