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QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS FROMFACULTIES OF DENTAL MEDICINE IN BULGARIAREGARDING THEIR MOTIVATION FORPARTICIPATION IN AND THE WAY THEY AREFAMILIAR WITH RESEARCH PROJECTS

Svetoslav Garov1, Maria Dencheva2, Angelina Kisselova2

1) Department of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Public Health,Medical University - Sofia, Bulgaria2) Department of Imaging and Oral Diagnostic, Faculty of Dental Medicine,Medical University - Sofia, Bulgaria

Journal of IMAB - Annual Proceeding (Scientific Papers) 2013, vol. 19, issue 4ISSN: 1312-773X (Online)

ABSTRACT:Introduction: In recent years there has been a

significant increase in the number and value of projectsimplemented by medical universities in Bulgaria. Theinvolvement of representatives of the student community inthe research teams increases their knowledge and skills andin this way they also gain experience in team work andbecome motivated to further develop their science careers.

Aim: The purpose of our study is by analyzing datafrom our questionnaire to examine the level of students’willingness to participate in research project activitiesperformed by Bulgarian faculties of Dental Medicine.

Material and methods: The written examinationtechnique has been applied as a primary empirical sociologicalinformation registration method. For that purpose a 13-question survey (questionnaire) has been prepared. The surveyis anonymous and it has been completed by 190 students intheir 4th and 5th year of studying in medical universities inSofia, Plovdiv and Varna. Data was collected during theperiod from January to May 2013.

Results: In order for us to achieve the goal of thisstudy we focused on the questions from the questionnaire.

Conclusion: The role that research projects play inmedical universities and in particular in the faculties of dentalmedicine in Bulgaria is of key importance for theiraccreditation. The scientific cooperation between lecturers andstudents is a prerequisite for developing a competitiveenvironment that defines the future scientific achievements inthe relevant research institution.

Key words: dental medicine, research projects,questionnaire, students.

INTRODUCTIONIn recent years there has been a significant increase

in the number and value of projects implemented by Facultiesof Dental Medicine from Medical Universities in Bulgaria.

[6, 7, 8] The involvement of representatives of the studentcommunity in the research teams increases their knowledgeand skills and in this way they also gain experience in teamwork and become motivated to further develop their sciencecareers.[2, 9, 10,] Participation of dental students in researchprojects is very important on their undergraduate andpostgraduate success. [3, 1] Also the projects are anopportunity to develop their clinical competency [4] and topromote leadership in medical education. [11]

AIMThe purpose of our study is by analyzing data from

our questionnaire to examine the level of students’ willingnessto participate in research project activities performed byBulgarian faculties of Dental Medicine

MATERIAL AND METHODSThe written examination technique has been applied

as a primary empirical sociological information registrationmethod. For that purpose a 13-question survey (questionnaire)has been prepared. The survey (Questionnaire on researchactivities – Appendix 1) is anonymous and it has beencompleted by 190 students in their 4th and 5th year ofstudying in medical universities in Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna.Data was collected during the period from January to May2013.

Statistical processing and analysis of the informationhave been performed using Windows 11 SPSS statisticspackage. Microsoft Office package software has been usedfor graphic images such as tables and figures used as visualaids.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONIn order for us to achieve the goal of this study we

focused mainly on the following questions from thequestionnaire:

http://dx.doi.org/10.5272/jimab.2013194.327

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I. Application procedure awareness – Question No 2.92.1% of the students have given negative answers to

the question regarding the awareness of the major steps inapplying for competition programs – idea, cost analysis, teamformation, submitting documents and implementation stages.The results obtained are completely logical and correspondto their position in the education institution.

II. Research project participation – Question No 3.95.3% of the students surveyed claim not to have

participated in research projects, which is directly correlatedto their answers to the question of their awareness ofapplication procedures (i.e. Question No 2). Such answersprove the need of a more detailed information campaignamong students aimed at explaining the benefits and ways ofparticipation in research projects - Fig. 1.

IV. Research project implementation – difficulty level– Question No 5.

Students’ answers clearly show that they do not haveany illusions about the complexity involved in research projectimplementation and that they are aware of the high level ofwork load related to such implementation. Results from thequestionnaire participants’ opinions summary showindisputable facts according to which 80.8% consider projectimplementation procedures as a difficult task and 14.7% – asa very difficult one - Fig. 3.

Fig. 1. Students’ participation in research projects

II². Willingness and motivation to participate inresearch project activities – Question No 4.

Our data collected from all three faculties of DentalMedicine reveals that only 4.7% of the students haveparticipated in research projects while at the same time 54.2%express their explicit willingness to do so. Availability ofenough time for participation in such auxiliary activities rankssecond as a precondition for students’ involvement. Only3.2% find financial stimulus for participation as the mostimportant one - Fig. 2.

Fig. 3. Research project implementation – difficultylevel

V. Research activity unit members – Question No 7.This question was meant to study opinions regarding

research activity unit members with the purpose ofestablishing such a unit in the relevant faculty or itsoptimization corresponding to the dynamics of developmentin the relevant field – Fig. 4.

Fig. 2. Students’ participation in research projectactivities

Fig. 4. Research activity unit members

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Result data is as follows: 20% of the students thinkthat such structure should include academic rank lecturersonly and 69.3% share the opinion that it should involveacademic rank lecturers, lawyers, accountants, etc., whichshows clear awareness of the multidisciplinary nature ofresearch project activities. The third considerable group ofanswers is also interesting – 18.7% of the students giveindividual answers different from the proposed ones and thoseparticipants insist on involving other people such as lecturersnot having any academic ranks, consultants, students’representatives, supporting staff representatives (nurses,sanitary attendants), etc. Students aware that the unit in chargeof projects should comprise of a large number of expertsexpress their somewhat intuitive opinion on the involvementof people with different occupations, which could ensureoptimization of the activities performed.

VI. Student’s participation in research projects –Question No 8.

In our opinion and in the opinion of most lecturers whofilled in the questionnaire the involvement of students as partof the research team is of great significance since it providesopportunities for gaining new knowledge and experience inteam work. As far as the educational institution is concernedresearch projects are treated as some kind of a “workshop”for future young research personnel - Fig. 5.

Fig. 5. Student’s participation in research projects

VII. Advantages of research project participation –Question No 9.

Major advantages of such participation according tostudents are: the possibility to experience work withinnovative technologies and special equipment (61.1%) andthe joint team work with their lecturers; presenting researchresults at various forums (33.7%) Fig. 6.

Fig. 6. Advantages of students’ participation inresearch projects

VIII. Disadvantages of students’ participation inresearch projects - Question No 10.

Fig. 7. Disadvantages of students’ participation inresearch projects

According to students (69.5%) the main difficultyregarding their participation in research projects is theadditional burden that such participation represents. Only26.8% of them find it difficult to combine project activitieswith education, obviously estimating that such participationwill not be a serious problem if organization is good.

IX. What is FP7? – Question No 11.The question related to FP7 was aimed at estimating

to what extent the students surveyed had knowledge of thevarious scientific cooperation programs. It turned out that halfof them, 51%, give the correct answer that FP7 is aninternational scientific cooperation program - Fig. 8. Weconsider that this percentage could be much higher in casesof active information campaigns held by the relevantuniversity specialized unit. [5]

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Fig. 8. Knowledge of FP7

X. Method of obtaining up-to-date information –Question No 13.

Most students prefer to obtain information aboutresearch projects both from the Internet and from specializedunits at the Faculties of Dental Medicine (FDM) (59.5%) –Fig. 9. This shows Bulgarian dental medicine students’hunger for more sources of up-to-date scientific information.

Fig. 9. Ways of receiving information according tostudents’ demands

CONCLUSIONThe role that research projects play in medical

universities and in particular in the faculties of dentalmedicine in Bulgaria is of key importance for theiraccreditation. Extracurricular activities and other forms ofeducation resulting in earning credits appear as a steppingstone for selecting the best prepared students and theirinvolvement in a particular project research team. This formof scientific cooperation between lecturers and students is aprerequisite for developing a competitive environment thatdefines the future scientific achievements in the relevantresearch institution.

Appendix 1(Questionnaire regarding research activities performed in faculties of Dental Medicine in Bulgaria)

QUESTIONNAIREQuestion

No1. What is your status in the Faculty?

2. Are you familiar with the researchproject application procedure?

3. Have you participated in a researchproject at your university?

4. Would you like to participate inapplication for a research project?

5. In your opinion a research projectimplementation is:

6. What is your opinion on establishinga unit at the Faculty of Dental Medicinededicated especially to implementresearch projects:

ÀAcademic ranklecturerYes

Yes

Yes

Very difficult

Definitely positive

BEmployee/lecturer ofno academic rankNo

No

No

Difficult

Positive

CStudent

Only if I havefree time

Easy

Negative

D

Only if the payis good

Very easy

Definitelynegative

Question

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1. Divaris K, Barlow PJ, ChendeaSA, Cheong WS, Dounis A, Dragan IF,et al. The academic environment: thestudents’ perspective. Eur J DentEduc. 2008 Feb;12(Suppl 1):120-30.[PubMed] [CrossRef]

2. Franzen C, Brown G.Undergraduate degree projects in theSwedish dental schools: a documentaryanalysis. Eur J Dent Educ. 2013 May;17(2):122–126. [PubMed] [CrossRef]

3. Guven Y, Uysal O. Theimportance of student research projectsin dental education. Eur J Dent Educ. 2011 May;15(2):90–97. [PubMed]

[CrossRef]4. Henzi D, Davis E, Jasinevicius R,

Hendricson W. North American dentalstudents’ perspectives about theirclinical education. J Dent Educ.2006 Apr 1;70(4):361-377. [PubMed]

5. http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/6. http://mu-sofia.bg/en/node/4297. http://meduniversity-plovdiv.bg/

en/projects/1080-art_projectsengl8. http://mu-varna.bg/EN/Research/

Pages/ProjectsAndPrograms.aspx9. Leisnert L, Karlsson M, Franklin

I, Lindh L, Wretlind K. Improvingteamwork between students from two

REFERENCES:professional programmes in dentaleducation. Eur J Dent Educ. 2012Feb;16(1):17–26. [PubMed] [CrossRef]

10. McAndrew M, Community-Based Dental Education and theImportance of Faculty Development, JDent Educ. 2010 Sep 1;74(9):980-985.[PubMed]

11. Steinert Y, Naismith L, Mann K.Faculty development initiativesdesigned to promote leadership inmedical education. A BEME systematicreview: BEME Guide No. 19. MedTeach. 2012; 34(6):483-503. [PubMed][CrossRef]

7. What members could such unitinclude?

8. In your opinion the involvement ofstudents in research projects is:

9. In your opinion what are theadvantages for research projectparticipants? (please specify one answeronly) 10. What are the disadvantages forresearch project participants?

11. What do you think the SeventhFramework Program is?

12. How many research projects do youthink are implemented at your Faculty inone year?

13. How do you prefer to receiveinformation about certain projects?

Academic ranksonly

Obligatory

Working withinnovativetechnologies

Difficulties incombining projectactivities witheducation /lecturingNational scientificcooperationprogramNot more than 10

On the Internet

Academic ranks,accountants, lawyers,etc.Positive

Participation inscience forums

Additional extra timeburden

International scientificcooperation program

Between 10 and 20

From specified unitsat the Faculties ofDental Medicine

Others (pleasespecify):

Negative

Financialstimuli

Others (pleasespecify):

Sports program

Between 20 and40

From bothsources

Studentsshould notparticipateOthers (pleasespecify):

Other (pleasespecify):

More than 40

I do not want toreceive anyinformation

Address for correspondence:Dr. Svetoslav GarovDepartment of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Public Health,Medical University - Sofia8, Bialo more str., 1527, Sofia, BulgariaE-mail: sv.garov@gmail.com