The Effect of Live Demonstration and Flipped Classroom with Continuous Formative Assessment on Dental Students’ Orthodontic Wire-bending Performance

Abstract

Background: In some dental schools, undergraduate students are taught wire-bending to train their manual dexterity. Traditionally, live demonstration (LD) was used as the sole teaching method until recently, either live video demonstration or flipped classroom (FC) teaching are being employed. Continuous formative assessment can be used as a systematic approach for personalised learning. This allows monitoring of the students’ progress and enhances learning by enabling students to identify their strengths and weaknesses. This study aims to evaluate the effects of live demonstration and flipped classroom teaching methods, supplemented with continuous formative assessment on dental students’ performances in bending six types of wire components for removable orthodontic appliances. By knowing the effectiveness of the teaching methods, appropriate method can be implemented in view of the current Covid-19 pandemic. Methods: Forty third-year undergraduate dental students were randomly assigned into FC (n = 20) or LD (n = 20) cohorts. They attended six teaching sessions, for six types of wire components each, with either LD or FC teaching methods. Submission of wire assignments was required after each session, for blinded wire-bending assessment, which were distributed to the students, lecturers, and technicians before the next session, as part of their formative assessment. Students also completed a self-reported questionnaire after the first session (T0) and at the end of all six sessions (T1). Results: The mean wire-bending scores for FC was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than LD for two of the six assignments, namely the Adams clasp and Z-spring. In LD and FC, formative assessment was found to have contributed a significant increase in scores over time. No statistically significant correlation was found between the wire-bending scores and utilisation of videos. T0 and T1 questionnaires showed that students were satisfied with both teaching methods. Conclusions: Both LD and FC are equally effective in transferring practical skills of orthodontic wire-bending and well-received by students. Continuous formative assessment enhanced students’ learning of orthodontic wire-bending skills.

Students’ perception on flipped classroom in contrast to live demonstration for teaching orthodontic wire‐bending skills: A focus group study

“…Majority of the students (80%) always or frequently watched the entire length of the video demonstrations, and 75% of students watch the video demonstrations more than once. 17 However, the qualitative findings of this study are in agreement with the reported literature, in which FC is received positively by students as an effective tool for teaching preclinical skills, and in this context, orthodontic component wire-bending skills.…”

“…4,15,17,23 The mean wire-bending score for FC for this current study was significantly higher than LD for two of the six assignments, namely the Adams clasp and Z-spring. 17 However, qualitative research on FC approaches is scant and is regarded as "under-evaluated, under-theorized, and under-researched in general" by Abeysekera and Dawson. 28 O'Flaherty and Phillips also commented that "constructs such as engagement are not always easily reduced to measurable items on survey instruments or a reflection of examination performance and so warrant further investigation."…”

“…Assessment and scoring of the wire-bending homeworks were based on vetted assessment rubrics that have been published earlier. 17 In brief, for each component, marks were given for each criterion achieved, and the total marks for each component were rescaled to 10 marks. The total marks for the six components were then divided by 60 marks and multiplied by 100% to give the overall score.…”

DENTAL EDUCATION PAKISTAN (DEP) VISION 2025: A WAY FORWARD, TOWARDS PROGRESSION & GLOBALIZATION

“…Surgery, Obstetrics-Gynaecology, ENT, Dermatology etc and shows promising results for Competency Based Education (CBE). [20][21][22][23] However, to promote DOPS in dentistry, more research will further support the cause. "Lest not forget" dental academics during present times must be evidence based, made student, patient and community centered; in line with modern principles of dental-medical education.…”

Teaching Tooth Wear Diagnosis, Risk Assessment, and Treatment Decisions Applying Inverted Classroom Combined with Case Presentation Model

“…In dentistry, the inverted classroom model has been implemented in several disciplines such as prosthodontics [Nishigawa et al, 2017], dental anatomy [Kellesarian, 2018], oral and maxillofacial surgery [Bock et al, 2020], orthodontics [Sivarajan et al, 2021], periodontology [Crome et al, 2021], dental materials and biomaterials [Binnie and Bonsor, 2021], and pediatric dentistry [Gallardo et al, 2021]. Recently, a systematic review concluded that an inverted classroom, implemented in undergraduate dental education, improves student satisfaction in most of the studies, while its effect on academic performance, particularly for skill development, needs more research [Vanka et al, 2020].…”