The Benefits and Challenges of Collaborative Learning: Educating Dental and Dental Hygiene Students Together

Abstract

Most often, members of the dental team are educated in separate programs. These professionals then come together in practice to work as a team, often with limited knowledge about each other's roles. The aim of this study was to assess the perspectives of dental and dental hygiene students regarding collaborative learning after taking two courses together. Five years (2010–14) of survey data were collected from a convenience sample of dental and dental hygiene students. The dental hygiene students were in their first and second years (DH1 and DH2) at Eastern Washington University (EWU). The dental students were in the University of Washington (UW) Regional Initiative in Dental Education (RIDE) program, taking their first year of courses in Eastern Washington with EWU's dental hygiene and UW's medical students. Eight first‐year dental (D1) students participate in the RIDE program each year, totaling 40 across the five years. Because the same D1 students take both courses, this target population was 80. The number of DH1 and DH2 students in these courses ranges from 32–36 each year, for a target population of 323 across the five years. A total of 193 survey responses were collected, for an overall response rate of 48%; the D1 response rate was 72%, and the DH response rate was 42%. In the results, students perceived that learning collaboratively helped them think positively about other dental professionals, benefitted their problem‐solving skills, increased their understanding of clinical problems, helped them become better team members, improved trust and respect, and improved their understanding of course content. These results suggest that collaborative learning had a positive impact on both groups. In comments, students suggested they would benefit from more shared learning experiences in the clinic and agreed that collaborative learning would help them create a more cohesive team.

Intraprofessional education with dental hygienists: The post training impact on dentists

“…The second survey was an adaptation of the validated Modified Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS), which has been used to evaluate IntraPE and IPE in multiple studies. [6][7][8]12,21 An expert panel -comprising 6 professors and dentists in the UWSOD, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the UWSOD, the EWU DH graduate faculty, and 1 EWU dentist -adapted the Modified RIPLS for this study. The end result was a 12-item questionnaire, using a 5-point Likert scale from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5).…”

“…The same results were found in a 2018 study of the RIDE program, where DH and RIDE students surveyed immediately following their coursework generally thought IntraPE was beneficial to help them solve clinical problems and be better team members. 8 Jackson et al (2018) found RIDE students strongly agreed IntraPE would benefit dental students. 8 This is consistent with the findings of this study: most RIDE alumni agreed IntraPE benefited their learning.…”

“…5 Multiple studies have demonstrated IntraPE can significantly improve the understanding of shared care between dental and DH students. 2,[6][7][8] Recent research concludes IntraPE creates a better understanding of roles and responsibilities of different healthcare providers, 2,[8][9][10] and improves teams and teamwork. [6][7][12][13] For the purposes of this study, the definitions of teamwork and roles and responsibilities come from the Interprofessional Education Collaborative.…”

“…The RIDE curriculum has used varying degrees of IntraPE between dental and DH students since the program began in 2008. 8 This research examined long-term effectiveness of the RIDE program as an IntraPE with DH students. In particular, this study sought to explore dentists' perceptions of (1) the long-term impact of IntraPE with DH, (2) their attitudes toward teamwork, and (3) their understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the DH.…”

“…Beginning in 2008, the RIDE curriculum included 2 didactic courses with DH students: Introduction to Clinical Dentistry, and Periodontology. 8 There have been 8 RIDE students and between 30 and 36 students consistently since the curriculum began. Introduction to Clinical Dentistry was taken in the first term of the students' respective programs.…”