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BackgroundMobile Internet devices and smartphones have at present a significant potential as learning tools and the development of educational interventions based on smartphones have attracted increasing attention.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to obtain a deeper insight in the nature of students’ use of smartphones, as well as their attitudes towards educational use of mobile devices in order to design successful teaching interventions.MethodA questionnaire was designed, aiming to investigate the actual daily habitual use, as well as the attitudes of dental students towards smartphones for their university education purposes. The survey was used to collect data from 232 dental students.ResultsOf the 232 respondents, 204 (87.9%) owned a smartphone, and 191 (82.3%) had access to third generation (3G) mobile carriers. The most popular devices were the iPhone and Android. Most of the respondents had intermediate smartphone skills and used smartphones for a number of learning activities. Only 75/232 (32.3%) had specific educational applications installed, while 148/232 (63.7%) used smartphones to access to social media and found it valuable for their education (P<.05). Students accessing social media with their smartphones also showed significantly more advanced skills with smartphones than those who did not (P<.05). There was no significant association between age group, gender, origin, and smartphone skills. There was positive correlation between smartphone skills and students' attitudes toward improving access to learning material (r=.43, P<.05), helping to learn more independently (r=.44, P<.05), and use of smartphones by teaching staff (r=.45, P<.05).ConclusionThe results in this study suggest that students use smartphones and social media for their education even though this technology has not been formally included in the curriculum. This might present an opportunity for educators to design educational methods, activities, and material that are suitable for smartphones and allow students to use this technology, thereby accommodating students’ current diverse learning approaches.

Introduction Development of evaluative judgement abilities through assessment and feedback strategies is crucial in students’ progress to become self‐regulated lifelong learners. Dentists’ ability to appraise the quality of treatment provided to their patients starts with development of competences in a simulated preclinical training environment. However, the effectiveness of these assessment and feedback strategies is not well understood. Material and methods This literature review aimed to identify the assessment and feedback interventions and their effect on dental students’ appraisal and psychomotor skills during preclinical training. A search of the electronic databases PubMed, Ebscohost (Dentistry and Oral Health), Scopus, Web of Science and EMBASE was conducted of studies published until October 2019. Results Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. Two studies were randomised controlled trials and ten non‐randomised studies. All studies included students’ self‐assessment and grading criteria as part of their feedback interventions. Feedback utilisation training was reported in 66% of the included studies. Evidence suggests feedback strategies improve psychomotor skills and increase agreement between students’ and teachers’ awarded grades. However, these improvements vary with the complexity of the task. Only one study shows self‐directed learning significantly contributing to students’ psychomotor skill improvement. Conclusion Although assessment and feedback are regarded as crucial for developing students’ evaluative judgement capabilities to become self‐regulated lifelong learners, there is limited empirical evidence of the assessment and feedback conditions that enhance students’ judgement abilities, performance and self‐regulation. Further research is needed to investigate and compare the effect of different assessment and feedback interventions on students’ appraisal skills, their impact on learning and self‐regulation.

The purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate the attitudes of a cohort of fourth-and fifth-year dental students (n=53) at Griffith University in Australia to a proposed computer-based Case Study and Treatment Planning (CSTP) tool. The tool would allow students to work through the process of comprehensive, multidisciplinary treatment planning for patients in a structured and logical manner. A questionnaire was designed to investigate the students' perceived needs, attitudes, and factors deemed to be important in the design of such a tool. Students responded on a seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The survey was supplemented by two focus groups, one of fourth-year and one of fifth-year students. The survey results indicated strong agreement that there is a need for such a tool (fourth-year mean=6.24; fifth-year mean=5.75) and the likelihood that it would be used after hours and for extra treatment planning practice (fourth-year mean=5.82; fifth-year mean=5.45). The themes that emerged from the focus groups revealed students' agreement that a CSTP tool would be beneficial both for training and for faculty assessment of students' treatment planning skills. The type of concerns raised included whether a rigid treatment planning template might hamper the flexibility needed to deal with complex patient cases. Additionally, there was some concern that students' personal interaction with tutors would be reduced if this mode of computer-based treatment planning were to be used exclusively. In conclusion, the overall attitude of dental students was positive towards a CSTP tool. This study's findings provide guidance as to how such software could be developed and which features to include.

Educators develop and curate exemplars as part of their teaching strategies. At the same time, current advances in information and communication technology allow learners easy access to a plethora of exemplars outside the university learning resources. 1 Exemplars of dental performance and their outcomes illustrating different levels of quality or competence 2,3 have been proposed as an effective strategy for initial cognitive skills acquisition 4 and to promote students' self-regulation that in turn results in better academic performance. 5 Within the social cognitive theory, the role of exemplars in self-regulated learning is explained by Zimmerman and Kisantas as a four-stage process: observation, emulation, self-control and selfregulation. 6 First, students observe and learn the salient aspects