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Situational judgment tests as a new tool for dental student selection
1Department of Personnel Management and Work, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. tine.buyse@ugent.be
Journal of Dental Education
|June 7, 2011
Summary
Situational judgment tests (SJTs) show promise in predicting dental student academic performance. SJTs measuring interpersonal skills offer incremental validity over cognitive tests, particularly in later years of study.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Dental Admissions
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Cognitive tests are standard for dental school admissions but incompletely predict academic performance.
- Noncognitive traits are assessed via interviews and personality tests.
- Situational judgment tests (SJTs) show predictive validity in medical admissions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the validity of an SJT for predicting dental student academic performance.
- To determine the incremental validity of SJTs over cognitive tests.
- To evaluate SJT predictive power across five years of dental study.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 796 dental students in Flanders, Belgium, was studied.
- Academic performance was measured by grade point average (GPA) over five years.
- The study compared the predictive validity of cognitive tests and an interpersonal skills SJT.
Main Results:
- Cognitive tests' validity for GPA decreased from .45 (Year 1) to .18 (Year 5).
- The SJT's validity for GPA increased from .05 (Year 1) to .20 (Year 5).
- The SJT demonstrated incremental validity for predicting GPA in Year 5.
Conclusions:
- SJTs measuring interpersonal skills can be valuable supplements to cognitive tests in dental admissions.
- SJTs may predict long-term academic success better than cognitive tests alone.
- Further research should explore SJT validity for predicting job performance in dentists.
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