Change in students’ critical thinking over the course of dental education

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test whether critical thinking changes over the course of dental education by assessing dental students at the beginning and toward the end of their training. Methods: Dental student participants completed a survey at the beginning of their first year (August 2019) and at the start of their last year of dental school (August 2022). The survey consisted of two instruments designed to measure the disposition and metacognition components of critical thinking. The study used a pretest-posttest design. Paired t tests were used to determine whether critical thinking scores changed over the 3-year period. Results: Surveys were completed by 85 of 94 students (90%) on the pretest and 63 of 93 students (68%) on the posttest. Of the 92 students who were members of the class at both testing periods, data were available for 59 students (64%). There were significant mean decreases in disposition and its tolerance for cognitive complexity subscale, as well as in metacognition and its metacognitive strategies subscale (p <.05). There was no significant mean change in either open-mindedness or metacognitive thinking. Conclusion: Results of this study suggest that some aspects of critical thinking (metacognition and disposition) decrease over the course of dental education. Future research should investigate why this is the case, and explore different instructional methods designed to improve critical thinking.