Textbook Content Analysis Based on the Viewpoints of Dentistry Students: The Case of "English for Dentistry Students"

Background and purpose: Recognizing the educational needs of students determine their learning goals and leads to better design of course books and educational materials. In this regard, high quality textbooks are a real need. This study aimed to analyze the content of "English for Dentistry Students'' course book based on the viewpoint of dental students. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in all dentistry students at Sari School of Dentistry, Iran 2018.  The participants all had passed the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) modules (I and II). The research was carried out using a questionnaire based on Sheldon model of evaluation modified by Karimi consisting of six dimensions. Data analysis was done in SPSS V24. Results: A total of 123 dentistry students was studied. There were no significant differences between males and females average score for each dimension (P=0.01). The average score for the dimensions of practical subjects, content related to the objectives of the course, linguistic subjects, and order of the contents was 8.83±1.93 and the average score for subjects and subject layout was 12.93±1.86. Overall, dentistry student showed a moderate level of satisfaction towards ''English for Dentistry Students'' course book. Conclusion: In order to enhance learning, course books should include a variety of pictures and other educational tools such as movies and animations could be beneficial too.