J Educ Eval Health Prof.  2019;16:37. 10.3352/jeehp.2019.16.37.

How dental students’ course experiences and satisfaction of their basic psychological needs influence passion for studying in Chile

• Orsini C
• Tricio J
• Tapia D
• Segura C

• KMID: 2502162
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2019.16.37

Abstract

Purpose
This study aimed to determine how the general course experiences of dental students in Chile and the satisfaction or frustration of their basic psychological needs influenced their passion for studying, and how passion influenced students’ study strategies.
Methods
A correlational cross-sectional study was conducted at 3 Chilean dental schools between April and June 2018, in which 935 undergraduate students participated. Students responded to Spanish-language versions of 4 psychological scale tools: the Course Experience Questionnaire, the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfac¬tion and Frustration Scale, the Passion Scale, and the Revised Study Process Questionnaire. Data were analysed with bivariate correlations and structural equation modelling, controlling for age, gender, year of study, and type of university.
Results
Students’ general course experiences (i.e., good teaching, clear goals and standards, appropriate assessment, and appropriate workload) positively predicted basic need satisfaction and negatively predicted need frustration. Need satisfaction positively predicted passion in students, with stronger scores for harmonious passion. Basic need frustration positively predicted obsessive passion and negatively predicted harmonious passion. Harmonious passion positively predicted deep study strategies and negatively predicted surface study strategies, while obsessive passion positively predicted both deep and surface study strategies.
Conclusion
Dental students’ optimal course experiences positively influenced the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs, which favoured harmonious over obsessive passion. In turn, harmonious over obsessive passion positively influenced deep study strategies. Therefore, efforts should be made to provide course experiences that support students’ basic needs and harmonious passion for studying, both in classroom and chair-side teaching.

Keyword

Chile; Dental students; Emotions; Frustration; Personal satisfaction

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Hypothesised model depicting the expected associations between students’ course experiences, their basic psychological needs, passion towards studying, and study strategies. Black bolded arrows represent hypothesised positive associations, whereas blue dotted arrows represent hypothesised negative associations.

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  Fig. 2. Structural equation model showing standardized regression coefficients in the hypothesized model for all participants. Black bolded arrows represent hypothesised positive associations, whereas blue dotted arrows represent hypothesised negative associations. The residuals, covariances, and regression paths of control variables have been omitted to simplify the model’s visualization. The significance of all paths is based on unstandardized regression coefficients, controlling for gender, age, year of study, and type of institution (public or private). *P<0.05. **P<0.001.

Reference

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