Journal of dental education
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Comparative Study
Comparing face-to-face, synchronous, and asynchronous learning: postgraduate dental resident preferences.
The Department of Dental Medicine of Lutheran Medical Center has developed an asynchronous online curriculum consisting of prerecorded PowerPoint presentations with audio explanations. The focus of this study was to evaluate if the new asynchronous format satisfied the educational needs of the residents compared to traditional lecture (face-to-face) and synchronous (distance learning) formats. Lectures were delivered to 219 dental residents employing face-to-face and synchronous formats, as well as the new asynchronous format; 169 (77 percent) participated in the study. ⋯ The residents also rated the quality of student-instructor and student-student interactions in the synchronous and asynchronous formats significantly higher after taking the lecture series than they did before taking it. However, they rated the face-to-face format as significantly more conducive to student-instructor and student-student interaction. While the study found technology had a major impact on the efficacy of this curricular model, the results suggest that the asynchronous format can be an effective way to teach a postgraduate course.
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A growing body of literature suggests that today's learners have changed and education must change as well since Millennial generation students expect technology to be used in their coursework. This study sought to determine what educational technology is being used in U. S. dental hygiene programs, what student and faculty perceptions are of the effectiveness of technology, and what barriers exist to implementing educational technology. ⋯ The greatest perceived barrier to implementing technology was technical difficulties. This study suggests that support services should be available to faculty and students to ensure successful implementation of technology. Dental hygiene educators have adopted many types of educational technology, but more data are needed to determine best practices.
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As part of the Basic Science Survey Series for Dentistry, members of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Physiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics Section surveyed directors of physiology courses in North American dental schools. The survey was designed to assess, among other things, faculty affiliation and experience of course directors, teaching methods, general course content and emphasis, extent of interdisciplinary (shared) instruction, and impact of recent curricular changes. ⋯ The findings suggest the following: substantial variation exists in instructional hours, faculty affiliation, class size, and interdisciplinary nature of physiology courses; physiology course content emphasis is similar between schools; student contact hours in physiology, which have remained relatively stable in the past fifteen years, are starting to be reduced; recent curricular changes have often been directed towards enhancing the integrative and clinically relevant aspects of physiology instruction; and a trend toward innovative content delivery, such as use of computer-assisted instruction, is evident. Data from this study may be useful to physiology course directors, curriculum committees, and other dental educators with an interest in integrative and interprofessional education.
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Previous research has indicated that dentists do not routinely engage in tobacco cessation interventions with their patients due, in part, to a lack of training in the predoctoral curriculum. From 2010 to 2012, this study at one U. S. dental school evaluated the effectiveness of experiential learning and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) to improve first-year dental students' knowledge and beliefs about tobacco dependence and cessation interventions. ⋯ Results suggest that OSCEs utilizing standardized patients may be an effective method for assessing tobacco dependence education. Preparing for and participating in an OSCE with a standardized patient may help increase student knowledge and shape the beliefs of early dental students about engaging in patient tobacco cessation interventions. Findings were mixed on the impact of experiential learning on OSCE performance, suggesting further research is needed.
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Comparative Study
Dental rounds: an evolving process of curriculum integration at the LSU School of Dentistry.
With the support for curriculum change expressed by the American Dental Education Association's Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education (ADEA CCI), the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Dentistry (LSUSD) initiated a course that vertically integrates the basic sciences and clinical sciences and promotes critical thinking. The resulting Dental Rounds course includes presentations by D3 and D4 students on interesting clinical cases, which the entire student body is required to attend. Following the third year of the program, a formal evaluation was conducted, in which surveys were disseminated to students, recent graduates, and faculty members to collect feedback on the efficacy of the course, its perceived value, and its success as an educational tool. ⋯ Most respondents reported that the objectives of the course were being achieved, but they identified case-related discussion as an area for strengthening critical thinking skills. As a result, modifications were planned to include formal participation of D1 and D2 students in the presentations, less frequent sessions to accommodate more complete cases, more emphasis on basic science, more structured mentoring, and a modified question format. Dental Rounds was a necessary integration step in dental education for LSUSD, and it is anticipated that the planned modifications will lead to strengthening of critical thinking skills in both students and faculty.