The Impact of Grit on University Student's Core Competency in Dental Hygiene Students

Park, Soo Auk; Cho, Young Sik

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Recently, competency-based education has been reorganized in the dental hygiene curriculum. In education, non-cognitive factors are emphasized. Grit, the non-cognitive ability to persevere to achieve an individual's long-term goals, is emerging. This study aims to identify the degree of grit and core competencies in students and to investigate the relationship between them and the factors that affect these core competencies.
METHODS
This study was conducted using 350 dental hygiene students who were randomly assigned a structured questionnaire to complete. The final analysis included 321 students. The survey contents evaluated grit, core competencies, and general characteristics. The difference in the degree of grit and core competencies in conjunction with the general characteristics of the subjects was analyzed using the t-test/Mann Whitney U-test and the ANOVA/Kruskal-Wallis H test. Multiple regression analysis was then conducted to determine the factors affecting the core competencies of the subjects.
RESULTS
The difference of "˜grit' according to general characteristics was statistically significant in "˜major satisfaction', "˜relationship', "˜perceived academic achievement', "˜grade point average (GPA)'. The difference in "˜core competency' according to general characteristics was statistically significant in "˜grade', "˜department selection', "˜major satisfaction', "˜relationship', "˜perceived academic achievement', "˜GPA'. Among the sub-areas of "˜grit', "˜perseverance of effort' showed a high correlation with "˜core competency' and was statistically significant. As a result of regression analysis, "˜major satisfaction', "˜perceived academic achievement' and "˜grit' of dental hygiene students had a statistically significant influence on "˜core competency'. Meanwhile, "˜GPA' was not seen to be statistically significant in "˜core competency'.
CONCLUSION
Grit, a non-cognitive factor, had a statistically significant effect on core competency, while the effects on GPA, a cognitive factor, were not statistically significant. Among the sub-factors of grit, "˜perseverance of effort' had a statistically significant effect on "˜problem-solving competency' and "˜academic competency', which are "˜core competency' sub factors.