Effectiveness of screen‐to‐screen and face‐to‐face learning modalities in dental anatomy module during Covid‐19 pandemic

Abstract

The Covid‐19 pandemic has forced all dentistry faculties to quickly shift to the online supplementation or replacement of traditional modules to pursue education. However, there is limited research evaluating the effectiveness of this education modality on student performance in dental anatomy and manipulation module. Accordingly, it was aimed to compare the influence of different education modalities on the performances of the students enrolled in this module. The students were requested to perform 11 practical assignments throughout the fall term. A total of 220 face‐to‐face‐educated (F2F) and 138 screen‐to‐screen‐educated (S2S) students were included. To evaluate the influence of education modality on the performances of the students, cumulative success scores were calculated and compared using an independent t‐test. The grades of the first (maxillary central), sixth (maxillary premolar), and eleventh assignments (mandibular first molar) were also analyzed to understand the manipulation‐skill progress of each student within the same year. The grades of above‐mentioned three assignments were converted into nominal data (excellent, very good, good, acceptable, and fail) based on certain thresholds, and a chi‐square test was conducted. The cumulative success scores in F2F group were significantly lower than those in S2S group ( P = 0.02). Differences between the first and eleventh tasks in both education modalities were significant ( P < 0.05). The S2S‐educated students achieved significantly higher achievement points in the sixth and eleventh assignments ( P < 0.001). The S2S education can be suggested as an applicable modality for teaching dental anatomy and manipulation module. However, further work is needed to ascertain whether this result is replicable throughout dental anatomy education.

The effect of face-to-face versus online learning on student performance in anatomy: an observational study using a causal inference approach

“…Our findings are consistent with some previous findings that showed face-to-face learning improved undergraduate occupational therapy student performance [ 6 ], but contrast with others that showed face-to-face learning worsened undergraduate dental student performance [ 7 ]. Likewise, our findings also contrast with other findings that showed graduate medical students made comparable knowledge gains in either mode of learning [ 8 ].…”

“…However, face-to-face students also spent more time studying anatomy than online students, which could explain why they performed better [ 6 ]. In contrast, undergraduate dental students who learned in face-to-face classes achieved lower cumulative examination marks, than students who learned in online classes [ 7 ]. Lastly, graduate medical and speech pathology students made comparable knowledge gains regardless whether they learned in face-to-face lectures or in an online interactive course [ 8 ].…”

Promoting more future‐ready anatomy education after the Covid‐19 pandemic: A scoping review

“…Reports on how the pandemic has affected online anatomy education have yielded heterogeneous results. The use of guided, self‐directed online learning applications, such as BlueLink (University of Michigan, Michigan, United States of America) and Complete Anatomy (3D4Medical, Dublin, Ireland), and audience response systems in online tutorials promoted active learning during practical classes, improved students' laboratory performance (Kurtulmus‐Yilmaz & Önöral, 2022), and enhanced students' learning experiences (Choudhary, 2021). These online instruction materials achieved comparable learning performance to face‐to‐face anatomy classes (Saverino & Zarcone, 2021; Stunden et al, 2021; Thom et al, 2021).…”

“…Note : Numbers in superscripts represent the cited resources: 1 Alsharif et al (2020); 2 Cuschieri and Calleja Agius (2020); 3 Evans et al (2020); 4 Franchi (2020); 5 Longhurst et al (2020); 6 Pacheco et al (2020); 7 Pather et al (2020); 8 Srinivasan (2020); 9 Albalushi et al (2021); 10 Banovac et al (2021); 11 Baptiste (2021); 12 Bernigau et al (2021); 13 Border et al (2021); 14 Böckers et al (2021); 15 Chan et al (2021); 16 Cheng et al (2021); 17 Choudhary (2021); 18 Cortese and Frascio (2021); 19 Chytas et al (2021); 20 De Carvalho Filho et al (2021); 21 Dulohery et al (2021); 22 Evans and Pawlina (2021); 23 Flynn et al (2021); 24 Griepp et al (2021); 25 Harrell et al (2021); 26 Harmon et al (2021); 27 Iqbal et al (2022); 28 Iwanaga et al (2021); 29 Iwanaga et al (2021); 30 John et al (2021); 31 Kurtulmus‐Yilmaz and Önöral (2022); 32 Mahdy and Sayed (2021); 33 McWatt (2021); 34 Naidoo et al (2021); 35 Natsis et al (2021); 36 Ortadeveci et al (2021); 37 Owolabi and Bekele (2021); 38 Patra et al (2021); 39 Patra et al (2021); 40 Sadeesh et al (2021); 41 Saini et al (2021); 42 Saverino and Zarcone (2021); 43 Şenol et al (2021); 44 Singal et al (2021); 45 Sotgiu et al (2021); 46 Srivastava et al (2021); 47 Stunden et al (2021); 48 Tg Muda et al (2021); 49 Thom et al (2021); 50 Totlis et al (2021); 51 Tucker and Anderson (2021); 52 Vidya et al (2021); 53 Yan et al (2021); 54 Yoo et al (…”

“Fun slipping into the doctor's role”—The relationship between sonoanatomy teaching and professional identity formation before and during the Covid‐19 pandemic

“…Accelerated by the Covid‐19 pandemic, there has been a recent trend to investigate the feasibility of e‐learning, self‐directed distance learning or online‐only environments in (sono)anatomy education (Darici et al, 2021; Meuwly et al, 2021; Co et al, 2022; Kurtulmus‐Yilmaz & Önöral, 2022; Mahdy & Sayed, 2022; Olivares‐Perez et al, 2022). As many of those studies focus on short‐time performance measures, the psychological dimensions of professional identity remain to be elucidated.…”