title: The effect of repeated testing vs repeated practice on skills learning in undergraduate dental education.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recent studies in undergraduate medical education have demonstrated the advantage of repeated testing over repeated practice with regard to knowledge and skills retention. The aim of this study was to investigate whether this "testing effect" also applies to skills retention in undergraduate dental education.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this prospective, randomised controlled trial, fourth-year dental students at Göttingen University Medical Centre participated in a training session on surgical suturing in winter term 2014/2015. Following this, they were either assigned to two sessions of additional skills training (group A) or two sessions of skills assessment with feedback (group B). These sessions were spaced over a period of 4 weeks. Skills retention was assessed in a summative objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) at the end of term, that is 6 months after the initial teaching session.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 32 students completed the study. With regard to suturing, OSCE performance was significantly better in group B than group A (81.9±13.1% vs 63.0±15.4%; P=0.001; Cohen's d=1.33). There was no significant OSCE performance difference in the two groups with regard to other learning objectives that were addressed in the end-of-term examination. Thus, the group difference was specific to suturing skills.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to demonstrate that in dental education, repeated testing produces more favourable skills retention than repeated practice. Test-enhanced learning might be a viable concept for skills retention in undergraduate dentistry education.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Centre Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany.|Dental skills lab SINUZ, University Medical Centre Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sennhenn-Kirchner
authors.affiliation: Student Training Centre of Clinical Practice and Simulation, University Medical Centre Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Goerlich
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Centre Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kirchner
authors.affiliation: Study Deanery, University Medical Center Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Notbohm
authors.affiliation: Student Training Centre of Clinical Practice and Simulation, University Medical Centre Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schiekirka
authors.affiliation: Student Training Centre of Clinical Practice and Simulation, University Medical Centre Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany.|Department of General Practice, University Medical Centre Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Simmenroth
authors.affiliation: Study Deanery, University Medical Center Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany.|Department of Cardiology & Pneumology, University Medical Centre Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Raupach
mesh_terms: D004497:Education, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013536:Suture Techniques / Q000193:education*
keywords: OSCE; dental education; objective structured clinical examination; repeated assessment; retention of practical skills; testing effect