Correlation of the Cognitive, Psychomotor and Affective Domains of Professionalism Assessment in Dental Graduates

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the correlation between the Situational Judgment Test (SJT), Observed Structured Practical Examination (OSPE), and Multi-Source Feedback (MSF) for the purpose of assessing professionalism across the three learning domains.

Methodology: A correlational study was done to investigate the correlation between the scores of SJT, OSPE, and MSF. The study was conducted at Islam Dental College, Sialkot. Data collection was completed in four months. Census sampling technique was employed. Date was collected through validated tools i.e., SJT, OSPE and MSF (360-degree evaluation). Correlation test was conducted to analyze the correlation relationship among the three variables i.e., scores of SJT, OSPE and MSF scores.

Results: Demographic data showed that sample consists of 29.4% male and 70.6% female participants. There was a statically significant relationship between three domains (P<0.05). The correlation value between SJT and MSF was 0.35, whereas the correlation value between SJT and OSPE was 0.43. The correlation value between MSF and OSPE was 0.57, the strongest among all, indicating a moderate correlation.

Conclusion: The correlation coefficients obtained from the analyses shed light on the degree of alignment between cognitive knowledge, practical skills, and professional behavior. Positive correlation was observed between the SJT, OSPE, and MSF indicating that these assessment methods are capturing the related competencies. Strong performance in one area is likely to reflect the strong performance in the others. It encourages the need for more integrated assessments to link theoretical learning with practical application in a meaningful way.