Perception and Attitude of Students and Teaching Faculty on Continuous Cumulative Evaluation System in Dental Education

Introduction: Continuous Cumulative Evaluation System (CCES) is an innovative formative evaluation system practiced in Sumandeep Vidyapeeth which is located in Gujarat, India. The CCES is carried out during the conduct of course and every undergraduate student is evaluated for his/her performance in theory lectures and/or in clinical and/or practical classes daily. The cumulative marks secured by the student for entire academic year is calculated and part of it goes as internal assessment marks which will be added to their summative evaluation. Aim: To evaluate the perception and attitude of dental students and teaching faculty regarding CCES. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, selfprepared validated questionnaires were distributed amongst dental students and teaching faculty of K M Shah Dental College and Hospital, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth, Vadodara, Gujarat, India. Total 42 faculty questionnaire and 300 student questionnaires were distributed. Questionnaire for teaching faculty consisted of eight questions while questionnaire for students consisted of six questions. Collected data from filled questionnaires were subjected to descriptive statistics and the significance of differences among responses depending on seniority of faculty in faculty group and by year of study in student group was determined by Chi-square test. Results: The response rate of the study questionnaire was 83.33% (n=35) and 92% (n=276) for faculty and students respectively. Both students (100%) and the faculty (91.42%) were open to implementation of newer evidence-based evaluation methodologies in curriculum. The junior faculty felt (n=14, 82.35%) difficulty in adapting to CCES system. Both faculty (n=24, 68.57%) and students (n=257, 93.11%) agreed that CCES in every lecture has increased the students attentiveness in theory class. Conclusion: The CCES as an innovative evaluation system is well accepted by teaching faculty and students of K M Shah Dental college and Hospital, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth.