Enhancement of Skill Competencies in Operative Dentistry Using Procedure-Specific Educational Videos (E-Learning Tools) Post-COVID-19 Era—A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

E-learning has completely transformed how people teach and learn, particularly in the last three pandemic years. This study evaluated the effectiveness of additional procedure-specific video demonstrations through E-learning in improving the knowledge and practical preclinical skills acquisition of undergraduate dental students in comparison with live demonstration only. A randomized controlled trial was conducted for the second-year dental students in the College of Dentistry, Jouf University, to evaluate the impact of E-learning-assisted videos on preclinical skill competency levels in operative dentistry. After a brief introduction to this study, the second-year male and female students voluntarily participated in the survey through an official college email. Fifty participants were enrolled in the study after obtaining informed consent. The participants were randomly divided into two groups, twenty-five each. The control group (Group A) was taught using traditional methods, and the intervention group (Group B) used E-learning-assisted educational videos and traditional techniques. An objective structured practical examination (OSPE) was used to assess both groups. The faculty members prepared a structured, standardized form to evaluate students. After OSPE, statistical analysis was done to compare the grades of OSPE between Group A and Group B. Logistic regression analysis was done to express the effect of components of the OSPE on gender, cumulative gross point average (CGPA), Group A and Group B. The results showed a significant difference in the experimental groups after the intervention (p < 0.000). The simulator position parameter demonstrated that the participants had a significant competence level after the intervention by procedure-specific videos (p < 0.000) and an exponential value of 6.494. The participants taught by E-learning-assisted procedure-specific videos and traditional teaching strategies demonstrated an enhanced learning and skill competency level than participants who used only traditional teaching strategies.

Dental Care and Education Facing Highly Transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Variants: Prospective Biosafety Setting: Prospective, Single-Arm, Single-Center Study

“…Dental education struggling with the biosafety of students, patients and educators was characteristic, along with its high adaptability to implementing modern technologies, including online educational platforms, teledentistry diagnostics and various e-learning tools [8,[26][27][28]. In 2021, Varvara et al, published a study designed to determine the undergraduate student perception of e-learning educational methods.…”

Assessment of the efficacy of a video-based hybrid teaching module of oxygen therapy and critical care area troubleshooting in nursing professionals managing COVID-19 patients

“…Although conventional didactic teaching has mostly lost favor in the teaching and learning community, small group demonstrative teaching still finds use, especially in specialties where procedural skill training is predominant, like nursing, dentistry, and so on. [ 6 11 12 19 ] Its advantage is that it allows student–teacher interaction and also supervised practice for the student. [ 19 ] Numerous drawbacks in this mode of teaching include inequitable dispersion of information to all students based on how they are visualizing or perceiving, variation in the demonstration or teaching techniques between different instructors, and lastly, dependence on the time allotted and the number of students in the group.…”

“…[ 6 11 12 19 ] Its advantage is that it allows student–teacher interaction and also supervised practice for the student. [ 19 ] Numerous drawbacks in this mode of teaching include inequitable dispersion of information to all students based on how they are visualizing or perceiving, variation in the demonstration or teaching techniques between different instructors, and lastly, dependence on the time allotted and the number of students in the group. [ 19 ] This point became more relevant during the pandemic, where social distancing further hampered this technique.…”

“…[ 19 ] Numerous drawbacks in this mode of teaching include inequitable dispersion of information to all students based on how they are visualizing or perceiving, variation in the demonstration or teaching techniques between different instructors, and lastly, dependence on the time allotted and the number of students in the group. [ 19 ] This point became more relevant during the pandemic, where social distancing further hampered this technique. [ 8 ] Kozlowski et al .,[ 6 ] in a single group study similar to the current study, evaluated the role of video-based teaching of rapid sequence induction to nurse anesthetist trainees and found significant increase in perceived knowledge.…”

“…Thus, through the current study, we intended to highlight the fact that hybrid techniques incorporating both video-based and in-person/demo-based aspects would be the ideal teaching tool. Iqbal et al .,[ 19 ] in a study comparing traditional techniques with blended (e-learning–assisted traditional techniques), demonstrated an enhanced learning and skill competency level in the blended technique compared to only traditional teaching. A similar conclusion in favor of blended or hybrid technique was given by Devi et al .…”