Differences between Computer-Based and Paper-Based Assessments of the Clinical Reasoning Competency of Dental...

Area of Science:

• Dental Education
• Cognitive Assessment

Background:

• Clinical reasoning is crucial for effective dental treatment.
• Computer-based testing (CBT) offers controlled information delivery compared to paper-based testing (PBT).
• Limited research exists on how testing mode impacts clinical reasoning assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the performance of dental students in a clinical reasoning assessment using CBT versus PBT.
• To investigate potential differences in examinee performance influenced by testing modality.

Main Methods:

• Developed a 100-question clinical reasoning assessment.
• Administered the assessment to 60 fifth-year dental students using both CBT and PBT formats.
• Compared test duration, total scores, average question scores, and perfect score rates between groups using univariate analysis of variance.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were observed in test duration, total scores, or average question scores between CBT and PBT groups.
• A higher number of problems achieved perfect scores in the PBT group compared to the CBT group (P < 0.05).
• This difference may be attributed to PBT allowing examinees to review previous questions within a problem set.

Conclusions:

• The study found minimal differences in overall performance between CBT and PBT for clinical reasoning assessment in dental students.
• Paper-based testing may offer a slight advantage in achieving perfect scores, potentially due to greater information accessibility.
• Both CBT and PBT are viable tools for evaluating clinical reasoning, with subtle differences in examinee behavior observed.