Viewpoints of Clinical Dentistry Students on the Factors Affecting the Quality of Lectures in Theoretical Courses

Introduction: Whilst there is an extensive descriptive literature on the effective lecturing, there are few studies on students' perspective toward the attributes of effective lecture sessions. The aim of this study is to explore students' viewpoints on factors affecting the quality of lecture sessions. Methods: This was a two-stage descriptive study in which 25 dentistry students at clinical stage, studying at Tehran University of Medical Sciences attended a focus group session and represented their viewpoints about weaknesses and strengths of lecture sessions of theory courses. A questionnaire was developed according to the students’ statements. Features of an effective lecture session were categorized into 4 groups of factors related to the lecturer, content, physical facilities available in class, and educational management. Reliability was assessed through Spearman correlation analysis. This questionnaire including 45 items was distributed among 130 students studying at fourth to sixth-year, in the School of Dentistry. Students’ agreement with each item in questionnaire was measured using 5-point Likert scale. Results: Ninety seven questionnaires were collected. Items of factors related to the lecturer mostly regarded by students, among them were “oral presentation techniques” (mean score of 4.64), “presenting case to demonstrate the association between theory and practice” (4.63), and “the lecturer’s ability to associate the content” (4.55) which received the highest scores. Conclusion: Dentistry students at clinical stage thought that the role of lecture in theoretical courses is very important. They believed that the ability of lecturer in organizing and explanation of the content plays the most important role in giving an effective lecture.