Teachers’ feedback practices in COVID-19: Has anything changed?

OBJECTIVES: Feedback delivered by teachers to dental students has a profound impact on students’ ongoing learning and development. The aim of this study was to investigate changes to feedback practices as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing challenges to delivering quality dental education. METHODS: This was a mixed method study. Quantitative data were collected through a bespoke questionnaire delivered to attendees of the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) annual conference. Qualitative data were collected via four focus groups at the conference, each discussing a particular theme. The questionnaire and conference were delivered online via Gmail and MS Teams, respectively. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively; qualitative data were analysed narratively, and both were triangulated. RESULTS: 67 questionnaire responses were received which represented a 26% response rate. Respondents came from 12 different countries within Europe and beyond and reported having a variety of roles in their dental schools. 77.6% (n = 52) respondents indicated they had changed their delivery of feedback due to the pandemic. One-third of respondents reported giving more feedback and 76% (n = 51) increased their quantity of feedback delivered online. The increased incidence of online learning had resulted in a greater emphasis on teaching small groups, increased use of technology, increased emphasis on student centred learning and heightened awareness of changing the style of feedback delivery. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has enforced rapid changes to the delivery of feedback by teachers to dental students, which could pave the way for a more positive, inclusive, individualistic and effective approach for delivering feedback now and in the future. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant shift from face-to-face teaching to online tuition, which promoted a need to re-evaluate the best method of delivering feedback to students. The ongoing changes in teaching approaches have a profound impact on clinical skills acquisition for dental students. The quality of the feedback students receive may help to enhance the synergies between theoretical online teaching and hands-on clinical skills acquisition, which has been altered and disrupted due to the ongoing pandemic.