Students’ Perceptions of Effective Classroom and Clinical Teaching in Dental and Dental Hygiene Education

Abstract

Effective teaching behaviors have been studied in various arenas in higher education. However, there is limited research documenting effective teaching behaviors in dentistry and dental hygiene. Our qualitative study attempts to define effective teaching in both the classroom and clinic for dentistry and dental hygiene students. A total of 175 dental and dental hygiene undergraduate students nominated a total of forty instructors for teaching awards, providing a total of 695 qualitative statements reflecting their teaching in two learning contexts: the classroom and the clinic. Seven categories of effective teaching qualities were identified: individual rapport, organization, enthusiasm, learning, group interaction, exams and assignments, and breadth. Based on the frequency of the themes, effective teaching in the classroom was best defined by organization and rapport, whereas in the clinic, rapport was the most frequently described behavior. Moreover, dentistry students perceived enthusiasm as an effective teaching quality more frequently than did dental hygiene students, whereas dental hygiene students provided more responses to learning. These findings can provide guidance in preparing undergraduate dental and dental hygiene educators to enter the teaching environment. The ultimate goal to be achieved from identification of effective teaching qualities, as determined in this study, is improvement in clinical and classroom teaching for dentistry and dental hygiene programs.

Learning experiences of oral hygiene students in the clinical environment

“…Positive learning experiences reported that include authentic learning opportunities, the range of patients treated, comprehensiveness of care provided, patient response, respect for autonomy and role modelling of supervisors are consistent with the literature . Literature on clinical teaching behaviours that students found most important include enthusiasm, among dental students , teacher attitudes among nursing students and individual rapport among dental hygiene and dental students . These behaviours were also noted by students of this study.…”

“…During patient treatment sessions, the clinical teacher occupies the multiple roles of a teacher, a clinical supervisor responsible for the safety of the patient, and of an expert clinician, and is expected to continuously switch between these roles. It has been documented that the behaviour and the approach of clinical teachers may enhance or detract from the learning experience of students .…”

“…Traditionally, professionals have been seen as competent to teach students based on their professional qualification , implying an apprenticeship where the novice learns from the expert and is assessed based on expert opinion. The literature shows that this simplistic definition does not take into account the complexity of the learning process .…”

“…The clinical learning experiences of medical , dental , nursing and to a lesser extent dental hygiene students are well documented. Effective learning experiences of dental students have been related to instructor characteristics, characteristics of the learning experience and the learning environment .…”

“…Similar results were noted with medical students . The literature shows that students learn in the clinical environment by being shown the link between theory and practice , by demonstration of procedures , by being exposed to authentic learning experiences , from the emotional tone of clinical teachers , and by being given frequent feedback of their performance .…”