UNYOC - Elizabeth Stellrecht: Using Focus Groups to Make Effective Changes to a First-Year Evidence-Based Dentistry Course

Elizabeth Stellrecht, who works at the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, did a short presentation about a class she co-taught with Elaine Davis and how they used a focus group to gather feedback on it. That focus group occurred with students after the class was over.

The questions asked during the focus group were simple, yet provided valuable and actionable feedback. The questions were:

• What was the main takeaway from this class for you as an individual?
• What did you like most about the class?
• What did you like the least about this class?
• How helpful was it having clinicians [practitioners] in the class?
• How can we improve student buy-in?

Clearly these are questions that could be used to help evaluate and improve any class.