Evidence-Based Practice & Research-Methods: Accessing & Assessing Evidence

Abstract

Evidence Based Practice: Accessing and Assessing Evidence: Course Development Proposal at Implementation Phase

Mbachi Ruth Msomphora UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.

Email: mbachi.msomphora@uit.no

Based on the questions we get from our students and researchers at the University in Tromsø (UiT), I (on behalf of the University Library) recognised the need for introducing a course about “Evidence based practice: Accessing and Assessing Evidence“, within the Department of Clinical Dentistry (IKO), Faculty of Health and Science at UiT.

The goal of the course is to facilitate in making IKO students better dental practitioners by using evidence-based knowledge and transfer it into dental practice. It will also help them understand how to find and choose quality studies, which they can use in scientific writing and/or their thesis at both Master and Bachelor of Science level, but more so, during their clinical practices/duties.

After consultation and meetings with the leadership at both the UiT Library and the IKO, it was agreed that the education-course should be given during the school hours, spread from sixth to eighth Semester. Which means, as we shall also see during the oral presentation, the course has currently (January 2018) been implemented. However, it is expected to be in full swing next year. According to the plan, the course will be taught by teachers/lecturers from both the University Library (UB) and IKO. We hope that such an integrated participation-based teaching may improve our communication between UB and IKO, while strengthening our students’ ability to locate, evaluate, and effectively use the accessed information (evidence-based knowledge), and transfer it into dental practice, and/or use the knowledge effectively in their research work. This, in turn, should strengthen assurance for qualitative learning for our future experts in dentistry at both national and international level.

For development of better educational support services, it is planned that the course will be evaluated in collaboration between the scientific community from IKO and UB colleagues, apart from the students themselves.

Nevertheless, the aim of my presentation of this course proposal at the European Conference on Information Literacy (ECIL) is to hear feedback from those who are already working on similar education courses, or are planning to develop an Information literacy course offering similar to the education course described here. Among other points, it would be interesting to know: • What is currently offered in Evidence Based Practice with the main focus on Accessing and Assessing information in support of good understanding and use in academic and clinical practices? • How does the course offering work? • Can the offering be better adapted to the needs of today’s groups of BSc., MSc., and PhD candidates?