The development and training effect of innovative undergraduate dental talents training project: A 6-year retrospective study

INTRODUCTION

To summarize the development of Innovative Undergraduate Dental Talents Training Project (IUDTTP) and investigate the training effect of this extracurricular dental basic research education activity from 2015 to 2020 to obtain educational implications.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The Guanghua School of Stomatology established the IUDTTP in 2015. The authors recorded the development process and analysed the participation situation, training effect, academic performance and overall satisfaction during 2015-2020 through documental analysis, questionnaire and quiz. The t-test, chi-square test and ANOVA were used to test the difference.

RESULTS

The educational goal, education module and assessment system of IUDTTP evolved and developed every year. A total of 336 students and 79 mentors attended the IUDTTP from 2015 to 2020, with the participation rate increasing from 45.1% to 73.5%. The participants exhibited favourable basic research abilities, manifesting as the increase of funded projects and published papers and satisfying quiz scores. Almost all students (94.94%) admitted their satisfaction with the IUDTTP. Moreover, the attended students surpassed the non-participants in terms of GPA, the number of acquired scholarships and outstanding graduates (p < .05). Likewise, the enrolment rate of postgraduate participants was significantly higher than non-participants.

CONCLUSIONS

To date, the training effect indicated that the IUDTTP has fulfilled the education aim. It brought positive effects on promoting research interest, cultivating research capacities and enhancing academic performance. The potential deficiencies of extracurricular educational activities, including inflexibility in schedule and insufficiency in systematisms, may be remedied by more systematic educational settings in the future.

Involvement, leadership and social practice to the development of postgraduate attributes: evidence from extracurricular education with Chinese characteristics

Limited by students' time and energy, participation in extracurricular activities is not necessarily beneficial to the development of postgraduate attributes. Thus, it is necessary to explore the impact path of extracurricular activities and education outcomes on the development of postgraduate attributes. From a configuration perspective, this study identifies the asymmetric causal effects of engagement and extracurricular education on postgraduate attributes. First, this study proposes a theoretical framework for postgraduate attribute development in extracurricular education with Chinese characteristics based on the input-environment-output (IEO) theory. Second, 166 academic scholarship applications submitted by the whole third-grade postgraduates who are from a science and engineering school at a double first-class university in China are taken as the sample. Finally, utilizing data envelopment analysis (DEA) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this study conducts the effect of the combination of causal conditions on the development of postgraduate attributes. Results are as follows: (1) the development efficiency of postgraduate attribute in extracurricular education with Chinese characteristics is practical but still insufficient; (2) four configurations consistently linked to high development efficiency of postgraduate attributes. Specifically, in context with outstanding academic research achievement and excellent moral character, participating in extracurricular education or not consistently linked to high development efficiency. In contrast, in a context characterized by academic achievement or moral award not outstanding enough, involvement in extracurricular activities or social practice is consistently linked to high development efficiency. In addition, no configuration links student leadership to high development efficiency, and non-scientific research ability is consistently linked to low development efficiency; (3) there is an asymmetric causal relationship between the high and low development efficiency paths, indicating that the conditions affecting the development of postgraduate attributes have multiple concurrencies. These findings provide a new practical path and perspective for promoting the development of postgraduate attributes through extracurricular education with Chinese characteristics.