Correlation of admission criteria with dental school performance and attrition. (1/71)

This study was conducted to provide current information on the relationship between admission criteria and dental school performance, including the association of admission criteria and dental school outcomes such as remediation and attrition. Standard tests of bivariate association and multivariate regression models appropriate for continuous and discrete dependent variables were used to examine the relationship between multiple indicators of admission criteria and dental school performance for six recent classes at the University of Florida College of Dentistry (UFCD). The admission criteria included the undergraduate science grade point average (GPA), undergraduate non-science GPA, Dental Admissions Test (DAT) academic score, Perceptual Motor Aptitude Test (PMAT) score, and admission interview score. Measures of dental school performance were the National Dental Board Examination Part I and Part II (NB-I, NB-II) scores, yearly and final dental school GPA, and academic progress through the UFCD program. In general, most admission criteria were good bivariate indicators of dental school performance. Multivariate analyses indicated that students with higher undergraduate science GPAs and DAT academic scores were more likely to achieve higher NB-I and NB-II scores. The undergraduate science GPA and admission interview score were the most consistent determinants of dental school GPA. Students with lower undergraduate science GPAs, DAT academic scores, and PMAT scores were more likely to remediate, to repeat an academic year, or to be dismissed. Although bivariate differences were observed in several admission criteria of students who remediated one or more courses, repeated an academic year, or were dismissed only the undergraduate science GPA and the PMAT score were indicators of programmatic progress in the multivariate analysis.  (+info)

Applicant analysis: 2000 entering class. (2/71)

There were 7,770 applicants to the entering dental school class of 2000. This is almost 14 percent less than the number of applicants to the entering class of 1999. Since the peak of dental school applicants in 1997 (at 9,829), the number has declined 21 percent. (This is most similar to the decline that has occurred in medical school applicants since their peak of applicants in 1996, at 46,968.) Almost 55 percent of the applicants to dental school were enrolled in 2000. Dental schools reported 4,234 first-time, first-year enrollees in 2000. This is an increase of 25 enrollees over the number reported in 1999. Since 1989, when dental school enrollment once again began to increase, total first-year dental school enrollment has increased 8.7 percent. The number of applicants per first-time, first-year position was 1.84 in 2000. It was 2.14 in 1999. (The most recent low was 1.34 in 1989.) The GPA and DAT scores of the first-time, first-year enrollees in 2000 were all either equal to or slightly higher than they were in 1999. Women were approximately 40 percent of the applicants and first-time, first-year enrollees in 2000, up slightly from 1999. Underrepresented minorities comprised slightly over 12 percent of the applicants and 10.6 percent of the first-time, first-year enrollees, also up slightly from 1999.  (+info)

Predicting student performance in preclinical technique courses using the theory of ability determinants of skilled performance. (3/71)

The purpose of this research was to validate Ackerman's theory of ability determinants of skilled performance using sub-test scores of the Dental Admission Test (DAT) in predicting student performance in preclinical technique courses. The Ackerman theory is a valid, reliable schema in the applied psychology literature used to predict complex skill acquisition. Inconsistent stimulus-response skill acquisition depends primarily on determinants of cognitive ability. The cognitive phase of skill acquisition is associated with demands on general abilities. Task accomplishment requires attentional resources, and inconsistent tasks do not improve with practice. It is theorized that the Perceptual Ability Test (PAT) is a valid cognitive determinant for spatial ability in this schema. Each new procedure learned in the preclinical technique courses is novel, includes a spatial relations component, and reflects inconsistent skill acquisition. The PAT scores of four classes were compared to the final grades in eight preclinical technique courses. Results showed that PAT scores account for a significantly high proportion, approximately 25 percent, of the variance of the final grades in the preclinical technique courses. Based on this strong correlation, dental school admissions committees may consider re-evaluating the weight of the DAT scores in the admissions process.  (+info)

Predictors of success in dental hygiene education: a six-year review. (4/71)

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive reliability of incoming grade point average (GPA), incoming math/science GPA, and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores in predicting success in dental hygiene education. Success in dental hygiene education was defined in terms of Dental Hygiene National Board score (N-BRD) and dental hygiene GPA at graduation (DH-GPA). Academic transcripts and admissions documents of 134 students comprising the Medical College of Georgia dental hygiene classes of 1996-2001 were reviewed. Incoming college GPA (1-GPA), incoming college math/science GPA (MS-GPA), total SAT score (T-SAT), verbal SAT score (V-SAT), math SAT score (M-SAT), N-BRD score, and DH-GPA were documented for each student. A forward, step-wise, multiple linear regression was used to analyze the data. I-GPA was the most significant predictor of success. Analysis showed that DH-GPA was best predicted by both the I-GPA (p < or = .001) and T-SAT (p < or = .004). Only the I-GPA (p < or = .001) was significant in predicting N-BRD scores. Data from this study will be used to evaluate the admissions process in dental hygiene at the Medical College of Georgia.  (+info)

Issues regarding practical validity and gender bias of the Perceptual Abilities Test (PAT). (5/71)

A brief history of the Dental Admission Test is provided, with emphasis on the development and utilization of the Perceptual Abilities Test (PAT). Concerns regarding the predictive utility of the PAT are discussed, and alternative approaches to assessing perceptual and motor skills are examined. To assess the predictive validity of the PAT, scores were collected for 492 students who graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry over a ten-year period. Scores were compared to Preclinical Operative Dentistry practical exam scores for each subject. Correlational analysis indicated the PAT maintains a statistically significant capacity for predicting technical performance in dental school, but the practical significance of the predictive capacity is limited. The results also indicate a gender bias favoring male applicants. Implications regarding continued reliance by admissions committees on the Perceptual Abilities Test are discussed and recommendations are provided, including modification of the PAT, use of the PAT only as a gross screening tool, and discontinuing the use of the PAT in making dental school admission decisions.  (+info)

THE PREMEDICAL STUDENT: HIS PROGRESS. A STUDY OF A COHORT OF PREMEDICAL STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. (6/71)

Since September 1961, a prospective study of premedical and science students has been conducted at the University of British Columbia. On completion of their sophomore year, after a year of changes from one group to another or withdrawal from either group, only 82 students existed in the diminished Premedical cohort while 137 students existed in the augmented Science cohort. These two groups have now become similar demographically, and their academic potential, as indicated by achievement and ability tests, has also become similar in terms of their mean test scores. In academic performance the present Premedical cohort has displayed some superiority over the Science cohort in high school, freshman and sophomore years. The sophomore premedical mean grade was 66.0% compared with 63.7% for the Science cohort. The hypothesis is developed that these findings reflect a difference in motivation, and therefore that perception of ultimate career goals will motivate and affect academic performance of students in their undergraduate years.  (+info)

SOME FACTORS AFFECTING UNDERGRADUATE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT. (7/71)

A related series of studies, most of which have been published previously, is described. These studies form a coherent whole and demonstrate the development of a theme, namely, the identification of factors in the student and the medical school which, in their interaction, influenced undergraduate academic performance at one medical school. In the population concerned no reliable positive or negative correlation could be demonstrated between cognitive ability and academic performance, when the former was measured by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and the Medical College Admission Test, and the latter by the current assessment methods of the medical school. Other factors, including socioeconomic and individual personality variables, are at present under investigation as to their effect on academic achievement. It is emphasized that the results of these studies cannot be regarded as valid for all medical schools, but the methods employed can be generalized.  (+info)

The utility of Canadian DAT Perceptual Ability and Carving Dexterity scores as predictors of psychomotor performance in first-year operative dentistry. (8/71)

This study sought to determine if Canadian Dental Aptitude Test Perceptual Ability (PA) and Carving Dexterity (CD) scores have any practical utility as predictors of psychomotor performance. Simple linear regression and multiple regression analyses were performed and prediction intervals plotted. Efforts were made to expand the range of the predictor and dependent variables and to improve the accuracy and consistency and prevent contamination of the dependent variables. Results for both PA and CD varied markedly across years. Weak, but statistically extremely significant, correlations were observed for both PA and CD with specific technique grades and the year-overall pooled data. PA correlations loaded on exams at the start, and CD correlations loaded on exams at the end of the year. Manual average scores exhibited the strongest correlation with year-overall technique grades, but could explain no more than 7.2 percent of observed variance. Prediction intervals for year-end grades spanned at least 38 percentage grade points for both PA and CD. Within the context of the present study, PA and CD scores demonstrated no practical utility as predictors of psychomotor performance.  (+info)

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