The Viewpoints of Dental Students of Shiraz toward the Amount of Their Achievement to Learning Objectives in Different Courses of Orthodontics

Introduction: Evaluation is an ongoing process which contemplates students' recognition, their learning promotion, and the necessary changes for achieving educational objectives. The aim of this study was to examine the capabilities of dental students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences through determining their viewpoints toward the amount of their achievement to learning objectives of practical and theoretical courses of orthodontics in academic year of 2007-2008. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study performed in academic year of 2007-2008, 122 dental students (86 female and 36 male) passing the courses of theoretical orthodontics (1, 2, and 3) and practical orthodontics (1, 2, 3, and 4) were selected as study sample. Questionnaires were developed for each one of the orthodontics courses and delivered to the students. At the end, each score given to the ability mentioned in the questionnaire by the students themselves was calculated based on total score of one hundred. The data was analyzed based on descriptive statistics indices including mean, standard deviation, one-way analysis of variance, and Tukey HSD. Results: The mean of students' agreement for ability to achieve the objectives of the courses of theoretical orthodontics 1, 2, and 3 were 76.6, 72.6, and 76.8 respectively (out of total score of one hundred). For the courses of practical orthodontics 1, 2, 3, and 4 they were 77.6, 70.8, 75.8, and 68.4, respectively. The courses of theoretical orthodontics 3 and practical orthodontics 1 had the best agreement in achievement ability and the courses of theoretical orthodontics 2 and practical orthodontics 4 had the lowest agreement in achievement ability according to the students' viewpoints. Conclusion: From the students' viewpoints, their ability in achieving educational objectives of orthodontics is desirable. Even though, revealing the weakness and the strength points of them in each of orthodontics courses, it seems that there is a need to revise and modify the educational program of this part.