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A screenshot of the e-learning programme showing the first section ‘anatomy’. On the left side, the section is subdivided into the anatomy of the upper and the lower jaw, displaying and explaining the bony structures, nerves and vessels of each region
Source publication
Background
Local anaesthesia plays a key role in many aspects of a dentist’s work. The required skills to perform anaesthesia successfully are acquired at university. To take advantage of the possibilities for new teaching formats, a blended learning concept for the local anaesthesia course was developed. The aim of the study was to compare the eff...
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E-learning had become an adopted learning method in Iraqi dental institutions of higher education through the period of quarantine. Assessment and feedback for this new experience are a necessity. The purpose of this study was to know students' perception, interaction, and satisfaction with their outcome in a comparison between oral histology and e...
Citations
... Recent systematic reviews report that F2F teaching is preferred by students in higher education. This is, however, a generalization and is dependent upon individual learner preferences and the context of the material being studied (Bock et al., 2021;Kemp & Grieve, 2014;Raturi, 2018). Importantly, F2F teaching can be successfully and usefully enhanced by judicious use of technologies at various points along the learner's journey. ...
Abstract
Background
The second European Consensus Workshop on Education in Periodontology was commissioned, as a result of the changes in the discipline and the advances in educational methods/technology, to update the 2009 Consensus report of the first European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) Workshop on the same topic that was jointly authored by the Association for Dental Education in Europe.
Aim
To identify and propose changes necessary in periodontal education at three levels, namely undergraduate, specialist and continuing professional development (CPD), with respect to learning outcomes, competencies and methods of learning/training and evaluation.
Methods
Four working groups (WGs) considered education in periodontology at the undergraduate, specialist and CPD levels, and education methods. Four commissioned position papers, one per WG, summarized the relevant information. Workshop participants gathered at an in-person consensus meeting to discuss the individual reviews, and this consensus report summarizes the conclusions.
Results
The learning outcomes for undergraduate and specialist education in periodontology have been updated, and a proposal for learning outcomes for CPD programmes was made. Learning/teaching/training and evaluation methods were proposed for each level of education, which included face-to-face, virtual and blended learning methods.
Conclusion
Developments in oral/dental medicine and in contemporary educational technologies have been translated into updated learning outcomes and learning/teaching/ training/evaluation methods relevant to education in periodontology.
... However, technology played a pivotal role in supporting distant teaching of both hard and soft skills during the Covid-19 pandemic [4]. PowerPoint presentations supported remote anaesthesia training [5], online skill demonstrations supported suturing competency [6] and web-based simulations supported patient assessment and diagnosis [7]. ...
... A randomised controlled trial exploring the effectiveness of three teaching methods in knowledge and skill acquisition of anaesthesia application identified no significant difference between groups [5]. Scored out of 180, the in-person (x̄ = 161), blended (x̄ = 154) and online (x̄ = 152) learning groups achieved high mean competency scores across groups. ...
... The literature on blended learning highlights the benefits of having access to learning materials prior to in-person skill sessions [5]. Receiving expert feedback during in-person practice then helps to consolidate theoretical learning and support students in acquiring the technical skills necessary to perform a skill successfully [5,9]. ...
Introduction
The efficacy of blended and online teaching methods for practical skill acquisition remains ambiguous, particularly for skills requiring haptic awareness and/or sensory training. This study aims to compare three teaching methods (face-to-face, blended, online) for the acquisition of skills requiring sensory learning and haptic awareness. A secondary aim was to explore student experience of each teaching approach.
Design
A post-test only randomised controlled trial.
Methods
Forty-seven participants chose between learning two skills: manual measurement of blood pressure during exercise (BPM) and/or skin fold measurement using callipers (SKM). Participants were randomised to one of three learning groups: face-to-face ( n = 23), blended ( n = 22) and online ( n = 26). Assessors determined skill competency during an in-person skill demonstration session. A survey captured student experiences.
Results
For SKM, there was a statistically significant difference in skill competency between the online learning group (17% achieved competency) and both the face-to-face (75% achieved competency; p = 0.011) and blended (89% achieved competency; p = 0.001) learning groups. For BPM, the online group had the lowest percentage of participants achieve overall skill competency. Both knowledge-based and sensory-based sub-competencies were negatively affected by the online learning method. For both skills, students in the face-to-face and blended learning group were significantly more confident in their knowledge and their ability to perform the skill in a clinical setting, compared to the online learning group.
Conclusion
Both face-to-face and blended teaching methods were more effective at leading to skill acquisition and were preferred by students when compared to a fully online teaching method.
... Several previous studies have examined the impact of e-learning on the development of clinical skills and outcomes, compared to traditional learning, in dental workers [56][57][58]. In these studies, attendees stated a lack of confidence in their ability to handle patients as a result of online learning [53,59]. Conversely, e-learning was shown to encourage general dental practitioners to participate in clinical training, with up to 65% reporting positive benefits [60]. ...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many educational institutions switched to e-learning educational platforms. This approach was essential but raised challenges, particularly in training practitioners for medical emergencies. This approach not only led to global challenges and a need for rapid adaptation, but also raised inequities across countries, with some facing far more technical challenges than others. In Libya, low investment in education technology and unpredictable internet connectivity limited its integration into schools and universities even before the pandemic. The current study reports feedback from an online continuing dental education (CDE) course for dental practitioners that was developed emergently during the pandemic and aimed to address the challenges posed by Libya’s internet environment. Participants were recruited through social media and received an 8-hour online CDE course consisting of three modules. Participants were invited to complete a pre-course demographic/informational survey on a Google form. After passing all modules, students were prompted to complete a post-course survey consisting of 23, five-point Likert scale questions. Respondents included 43 females (74.1%) and 15 males (25.9%). For ~50% of the cohort (n = 32), this was their first online clinical course. 87.9% of post-course participants rated the course as a positive learning experience, while 90.9% agreed their learning outcomes had been achieved. Most participants (97%) agreed the course instructor explained all concepts clearly. In total, 81.8% agreed that the technology effectively supported their learning. Most agreed that a clear demarcation between each course module existed and that the language and depth of the material were adequate. Some students reported technical difficulties, and 33.3% saw repetitions in the modules. However, all post-course respondents said they would recommend the online course to colleagues. Libyan dental practitioners showed high satisfaction levels towards the e-learning process, course content, instructors’ attitudes, and overall e-learning experience despite the inherent e-learning challenges posed in this country.
... Therefore, blended learning has emerged as a prominent instructional approach in medical education, gaining recognition for its effectiveness in content delivery. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Moreover, blended learning offers learners unparalleled flexibility in terms of time and location, fostering self-paced learning and promoting autonomy. 10,11 Its adaptable nature is believed to facilitate robust memory consolidation, resulting in enhanced knowledge acquisition and retention among medical students. ...
Purpose/objectives
Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, undergraduate education shifted towards online‐only formats from April 2020 until July 2021. Previous research indicated a negative effect on students’ competence development, and it remains unclear whether blended learning concepts could provide compensation. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare pre‐ to post‐pandemic students’ performance in standardized baseline (BL) and final exams (FE), as well as the associated knowledge gain (KG) in three consecutive undergraduate blended learning‐based oral radiology courses (C1‐3).
Methods
Ninety‐four students participated during two pre‐pandemic semesters (October 17–July 18), and ninety‐eight students during two post‐pandemic semesters (October 21–July 22). Before the pandemic, conventional face‐to‐face lectures were combined with an oral radiology platform. Two years into the COVID‐19 pandemic, additional video‐based e‐learning modules were adopted from the pandemic online‐only curriculum. In each semester, skills and KG were assessed by conducting standardized BL and FE. Students’ performance in BL, FE, and the associated KG during pre‐pandemic semesters was compared to post‐pandemic semesters.
Results
In post‐pandemic courses, students showed significantly lower BL scores, whereas KG was significantly higher in post‐ compared to pre‐pandemic semesters (27.42% vs. 10.64%, p < 0.001, respectively). FE scores in C1 significantly improved from pre‐ to post‐pandemic semesters.
Conclusions
Within the limitations of our study, the lower BL scores confirmed the negative effect of the pandemic on competence development. Blended learning concepts seem to compensate for this effect and enable students to return to pre‐pandemic levels. Future studies are needed to assess the additional impact of video‐based e‐learning modules.
... It comes as no surprise as the evidence from the literature has already demonstrated frequent reports by graduating medical students on inadequate/poor con dence and competence in performing basic procedural skills, particularly in light of the increasing competition and dwindling opportunities around procedural training in teaching hospitals (10) . In fact, while there is evidence to support online learning and training for psychomotor skills, such training usually undergoes quality adaptations to teaching on par with traditional methods and learning integration (11) and is coupled with hands-on guided practice prior to any formal assessment (blended learning) 12,13,14,15 . ...
Background
Facilitating the transition of graduating medical students who did their clinical clerkships under the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions to post-graduate training remains under-explored, particularly in the Middle East region.
Objectives
A tailored Capstone course was developed to bridge the educational gaps for the first graduating class in the first MD program across the United Arab Emirates, to ready them for residency training. These are international medical graduates who studied exclusively online for years 1 and 2 because of the COVID19 pandemic restrictions, which affected their proper acquisition of clinical skills. They also are the first cohort to graduate from a nascent MD program in the UAE, while all other medical schools in the country have historically adopted the MBBS program.
Methods
A total of 26 fourth-year medical students participated in the Capstone course between April and May 2023. Pre- and post-course students’ self-confidence levels on the skills learned were analysed using paired t-tests to determine any statistical significance. Means, standard seviations, and p-values for all stations were computed to summarize the overall changes in confidence levels.
Results
The statistical analysis revealed a highly statistically significant p-value of 8.68757E-06, indicating a substantial improvement in the students' self-confidence levels after completing the capstone course. The findings support the effectiveness of the course in enhancing students' confidence, noting that the overall results are more favorable for the psychomotor skills (p-value = 0.00011), with the exception of the cognitive skills related to “reporting events/participating in root cause analysis”, and “recognize high risk medications for error and how to report such errors”.
Conclusions
The current study demonstrates the positive impact of a capstone course on the self-confidence levels of graduating medical students. The significant improvements in both psychomotor and cognitive/communication skills highlight the value of targeted training and hands-on experiences in addressing the gaps in clinical education. The results underscore the importance of incorporating in-person training opportunities, especially for developing psychomotor skills, and provide insights for curriculum development and the design of future capstone programs.
... 1,2 Typically, rigorous scientific data precedes educational reform; 3 however, the most recent shift to an online teaching methodology was sudden and unplanned. 4,5 The impact of COVID-19 on universities globally 6 was a catalyst in reframing the planning, teaching, and learning of medical education in the online arena. Despite the benefits of various blended learning strategies in other disciplines, [7][8][9] changes to the medical curriculum have been slow, 10,11 especially in clinical skills training. ...
Purpose
During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, various online instructional strategies in clinical skills training were piloted. The sudden transition to the remote platform circumvented the rigorous planning associated with curriculum reform. This study aimed to explore students’ and tutors’ perceptions of factors that promoted or hindered successful learning transfer and to propose a blended conceptual model to guide affective, cognitive, and psychomotor clinical skills training in the pre-clinical phase of medical education.
Methods
A mixed-method quasi-experimental study assessed third-year students’ transfer of clinical skills and knowledge following online learning in 2021. Students and their tutors completed online surveys that included open and closed-ended questions regarding factors influencing their experience of the adapted teaching methods. Descriptive statistical analysis was used for the quantitative data. Qualitative responses were thematically analyzed.
Results
One hundred fourteen students (48%) and seven tutors (100%) responded to the surveys. The questionnaires’ internal consistency and construct validity were determined using Cronbach’s α-Coefficient. There was an overall positive response (86%) to the acceptability of the online platform in clinical skills training. Using online simulations with targeted onsite practice was reported as effective in clinical skills training. Tutors perceived students as well-prepared for the skills laboratory. Five emergent themes, qualified by a linear model of asynchronous and synchronous online and onsite teaching with the evaluation of the instructional design and institutional support, informed the proposed blended learning guide for clinical skills training in the pre-clinical phase.
Conclusion
Blended clinical skills learning that included the flipped classroom concept was well-accepted. Virtual patients proved a convenient cognitive preparation tool for skills training and potentially optimized teaching delivery. The study found that the adapted teaching frameworks incorporating an online clinical skills component into a modified onsite curriculum augmented learners’ ability to transfer knowledge to the clinical skills laboratory. An integrated five-step blended model is proposed for future interventions.
... Blended learning concepts are generally thought to be the gold standard for effective content delivery in medical education. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] It combines synchronous (i.e. time-fixed live lessons, online or on campus) face-to-face (F2F) learning and asynchronous (i.e. ...
... 8 E-learning, on the other hand, is thought to be particularly effective in conveying theoretical knowledge. 3 In addition, it allows educators to develop student-centred content (e.g. asynchronous interactive and adaptive online learning content). ...
... who received blended or traditional learning. Bock et al. 3 suggest that, compared to e-learning and F2F learning, traditional blended learning is most effective in acquiring theoretical knowledge of local anaesthetics. Interestingly, they did not find any differences in skill development (i.e. ...
Introduction:
Blended learning seems to be an effective teaching concept in oral radiology. During the COVID-19 pandemic, blended learning shifted towards online-only learning. The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of pandemic online-only and pre-pandemic blended learning in three consecutive oral radiology courses (C1, C2 and C3) and to examine whether additional video-based e-learning modules (VBLMs) had a positive impact on undergraduate students' performance during pandemic semesters.
Materials and methods:
Data from 205 undergraduate dental students participating either in a blended learning or an online-only learning concept were analysed. Pre-pandemic blended learning comprised face-to-face seminars and access to an oral radiology platform (ORP). Pandemic online-only learning comprised online seminars, access to the ORP and additional VBLMs (two VBLMs for C1, four VBLMs for C2 and six VBLMs for C3). Through standardised e-exams at the beginning and end of each semester, performance in final exams and knowledge gain were compared between the two groups.
Results:
No significant differences in scores in final exams (p = .11) and knowledge gain (p = .18) were found when comparing the pre-pandemic and pandemic groups. On course level, however, students receiving a lower number of VBLMs performed significantly worse in final exams (C1: p < .01, C2: p = .02) and showed inferior knowledge gain (C2: p < .01) during the pandemic.
Conclusions:
Within the limitations of the study, the present investigation confirmed that pandemic online-only learning involving VBLMs might be as effective as pre-pandemic blended learning.
... Endodontic procedures require appropriate expertise and practice to obtain acceptable quality and accuracy. Error rates tend to increase with more complex practical procedures (Balasubramaniam et al., 2018, Barakat et al., 2022, Bastos et al., 2022, Bock et al., 2021. Since University education provides only theoretical and practical skills, major innovations such as the introduction of endodontic tooth models like, 3-d printed plastic acrylic models and the incorporation of media into teaching have advanced dental education (Connolly, 2022, Dyrek et al., 2022, Escobar et al., 2022, Goh et al., 2022, Grundgeiger et al., 2022, Hulke et al., 2022. ...
Aim
This study compared the perceptions and exam performance of third-year undergraduates in endodontic courses. The study analyzed hybrid training during COVID-19 and Face-to-Face teaching post-COVID-19 to identify the most effective teaching methods.
Materials and Methods
This study was a single-centre retrospectively analyzed endodontic courses delivered to third-year dental students in 2021 and 2022 at the Gulf Medical University, College of Dentistry. Student perceptions of the hybrid and F2F courses were obtained through a satisfaction questionnaire administered by the University's Quality Assurance Office at the end of each course. Student performance was measured by analyzing exam grades for both teaching modes.
Results
Total of 75 students took the hybrid course while 77 received the F2F course. The number of respondents to the questionnaire was significantly higher for the F2F group (81% vs. 31.5%, p ≤ 0.05). The hybrid course received a satisfaction score of 100% compared to 94.54% for F2F. Student performance in the hybrid group was comparable to the F2F group, with mid- and end-of-year course marks ranging from 64.67% to 71.46% and 63.93% to 65.79%, respectively (p ≤ 0.05). These findings suggest that the hybrid model did not negatively affect student performance.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, the hybrid learning approach was well-received and produced similar endodontic exam marks to F2F teaching. This suggests that combining e-learning with F2F teaching can maintain the quality of education. The absence of differences between the groups dismisses concerns that endodontic education suffered due to the pandemic.
... Previous investigations declared that weak interaction between students and organizers and the lack of transparency regarding the learning goal could prevent the e-learning method's education process compared to the face-to-face way [36,37]. Bock et al. (2021) performed a randomized study to compare the effectiveness of face-to-face, blended, and e-learning teaching in local anaesthesia by assessing students' knowledge gain and performance of practical skills. Their study indicated that blended learning improves the learning outcome for theoretical knowledge in teaching local anaesthesia more than either face-to-face learning or e-learning alone. ...
... Their study indicated that blended learning improves the learning outcome for theoretical knowledge in teaching local anaesthesia more than either face-to-face learning or e-learning alone. For acquiring practical skills, their study showed that blended learning was as effective as other teaching methods [38]. Barteit et al. (2020) systematically reviewed e-learning interventions for medical education in low-and middleincome countries (LMICs). ...
... According to their findings, most studies self-concluded that they had an effective e-learning intervention, thus indicating the potential benefits of e-learning for LMICs [16]. Further, studies have shown that e-learning modalities are used widely by students outside of their formal curricula and by health professionals for continuing professional education, indicating that students and professionals appreciate and take advantage of e-learning [38]. Individual learners take advantage of self-paced learning environments in which they control their learning pace, information flow, selection of learning activities, and time management [17]. ...
Abstract Introduction This study investigated medical students’ intended learning outcomes based on e-learning and in-person education. Methods In this cross-sectional comparative analytical study, a group of 126 undergraduate medical students’ intended learning outcomes under two different teaching methods, including e-learning and in-person, were repeatedly measured based on the census sampling method. Participants were in the preclinical curriculum phase (physiopathology) at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS), Iran. Due to expert panel opinion, the same medical teachers and similar difficulty of lessons were considered in two investigated academic semesters. In addition, difficulty and discrimination indexes of formative and summative assessments were controlled for two study groups. The students’ learning outcome index was the knowledge test scores participants received in the relevant lessons of the General Medicine (GM) curriculum preclinical courses. Results The findings indicated that students learning outcomes were significantly higher during e-learning than in in-person education for all examined variables (P
... There have been studies on the blended learning in recent years. Some scholars believe that the blended learning has positive effects that improve the theoretical marks (Balakrishnan et al., 2021;Bock et al., 2021;Cao et al., 2021;Ma et al., 2021;Ravat et al., 2021). However, some educators declare that there are no obvious advantages of the blended learning from their teaching practice (Bamoallem & Altarteer, 2022;Nazar et al., 2019;Venkatesh et al., 2020). ...
In recent years, online learning has been widely used than before. However, it depends on student’s learning initiative and lacks of teacher-student interaction, which cannot bring desired learning performance. In our physiology teaching practice to “5 + 3” integration medical student, we tried to combine online and classroom learning to form the blended learning. This study assessed the effectiveness of the blended learning on students’ learning initiative and performance in the physiology study. It included 180 full-time students from clinical medical specialty across two academic years. These students were divided into the experimental classes receiving blended learning and the control classes receiving traditional learning. We carried out three classroom tests and one questionnaire survey. It found that the students of blended learning who mastered most of the content were as twice as the students of traditional learning. The average accuracy of classroom tests was above 90% from the students of the blended learning, which was higher than the approximate rate of 80% of from the students of the traditional learning. Both the times of preparing lessons and answering questions in class increased in the blended learning practice. In addition, students of blended learning were relatively unaffected by playing with the mobile phones in the class. It found that students acquired more knowledge, performed better in the classroom tests and their learning initiative was excited in the blended learning.This study provides the effect assessment and contributes to improve the teaching effect of the blended learning.
