Quality, Effectiveness and Outcome of Blended Learning in Dental Education during the COVID Pandemic: Prospects of a Post-Pandemic Implementation
Education Sciences
; 11(12):810, 2021.
Article
in English
| MDPI | ID: covidwho-1572409
ABSTRACT
Blended learning is growing in popularity particularly following the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic. One of the fields that the pandemic has substantially affected is dental education. Purpose:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the online dental education. Students’perceptions and experiences of blended learning were also investigated.Methods:
A 28-question online survey was designed to gauge students’perceptions of the effect of blended learning on their academic performance.Results:
314 participants in preclinical and clinical years completed the questionnaire (223 females and 91 males). The majority of students (89%) believed that clinical and practical courses cannot be given by the internet. In terms of students’opinion in the assessment process, more females (65.8%) preferred traditional exams than males (50.5%) (p < 0.05). Most clinical students (83%) preferred a combination of online and traditional teaching compared to 72% of preclinical students (p < 0.05). Clinical year students were more willing to communicate electronically with their classmates and instructors. The majority of dental students (65%) reported that future dental courses should be blended.Conclusions:
In the pandemic era, blended learning, should become the preferred method of education whereby theoretical knowledge is delivered through online tutorials and clinical training is resumed on-site, to ensure competency of dental graduates while maintaining safety of the dental team. Current facilities and course designs should be improved in order to improve students’experiences with blended learning.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
MDPI
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
Language:
English
Journal:
Education Sciences
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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