The Effect of Flipped Classroom Model on Knowledge, Practice, Attitude and Satisfaction of Dentistry Students; A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the students' attitudes before and after the flipped classroom, the quality of the course, and the effectiveness of this method to promote the students' lateral cephalograms tracing abilities. Methods: This is a single-group quasi-experimental research conducted on dental students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences(SUMS), Iran in 2019. The intervention was carried out in a blended learning approach with the flipped classroom model.35 fourth-year dental students participated in a flipped classroom held during a semester for lateral cephalograms tracing course. The students were provided with the educational materials before the class time through multimedia learning tools and the class time was devoted to discussions. At the end of the session, the students were asked to fill questionnaires regarding their demographic information, their computer capabilities, their attitudes before and after the course, the quality of the course, the students' self-assessments of their theoretical knowledge and their practical skills in cephalograms tracing, and the effectiveness of different tools in their learning. Results: Students' attitudes of this method were improved after taking the course and the quality of this method was acceptable to the students (p<0.001). Their self-assessment of theoretical knowledge and practical skills were promoted (p<0.001). All blended learning tools averaged more than the cutoff point, however short lecture (5.11±0.98) and live feedback (4.98±1.07) were considered to be the most efficient interactive tools. Conclusion: It seems that the flipped classroom might have a positive effect on increasing students' knowledge, attitude and satisfaction. In general, this method of learning seems favor dental students with combination of attractiveness of electronic learning and the live teacher-student interactions in face-to-face environment.