Reflective Abilities of Undergraduate Dental Students in a Public Sector Medical College in Pakistan

This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. Aims: Traditional teaching decreases students' motivation therefore researchers worked on reflection to mount Miller's pyramid from knowledge towards performance. Reflectors are self-directed and lifelong learners. Reflection heightens learning caliber and ameliorates educational outcomes. So this study was conducted to "Measure reflective abilities of undergraduate dental students in a public medical college." Materials & Methods:A descriptive, quantitative study was carried out at Bolan Medical College, Quetta from December, 2015-May, 2016. Reflection-in-Learning Scale was distributed to all (85) dental students. Participants filled RLS which was then collected; data was coded and entered in SPSS version-20. Analysis of Variance test compared Reflection-in-Learning Scale score among the academic years, Shapiro test checked its normality, and Tukey test examined post hoc multiple comparisons. Results: In total 85 participants 21 belonged to 1st year, 16 were from 2nd year, 20 and 28 from 3rd and 4th years respectively. Female participants made 72.9% and 76.5% participants were 20-22 years old. Overall RLS score was 81.52 ± 4.90. Third year scored 83.35 ± 4.87, 4th year scored 82.57 ± 4.10, 2nd year scored 81.31 ± 4.41, and 1st year scored 78.52 ± 5.34. Conclusion: This study provides insight of dental student's reflective level and serves as a vehicle to examine their reflective abilities. Senior batches were good reflectors.