Improving Students’ Ability to Provide Constructive Feedback in Didactic and Simulation Courses

OBJECTIVES: The study evaluated whether brief coaching, delivered through a written handout or online seminar, improves the quality of course feedback among second-year dental students. METHODS: A total of 96 students enrolled in a preclinical prosthodontics course at the University of Toronto were randomized into three groups: control (no coaching), handout-based coaching, and seminar-based coaching. Participants completed identical online feedback surveys after each of four course modules. Two blinded evaluators categorized responses as constructive, positive, neutral, or negative. Changes from baseline to subsequent surveys were coded as "desired" (non-constructive → constructive). Within-group changes were analyzed using McNemar's test and between-group differences using chi-square tests (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Ultimately, 56 of 94 students completed all four surveys (60% response rate) (control: n = 20; handout: n = 18; seminar: n = 18). The proportion of constructive feedback in the control group remained relatively stable across modules (28.3%-48.3%). After the second and fourth surveys, both intervention groups demonstrated higher constructive feedback (61.1%-72.2%) than the control group (30.0% and 48.3%). However, after the third survey, the handout-based group demonstrated greater constructive feedback (61.1%) than the seminar group (40.7%) and the control group (28.3%) (p = 0.034 and p < 0.001, respectively). The proportion of students demonstrating desired change was significantly higher in both intervention groups (18.5%-44.4%) compared with the control group (3.3%-20.0%) across all post-baseline surveys (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Targeted coaching significantly improved dental students' ability to provide constructive course feedback. Both handout-based and seminar-based approaches yielded more constructive feedback than the control group, suggesting that brief feedback training may enhance evaluation quality and support continuous curricular improvement.