Active Learning of Dental Physiology in an Asynchronous Online Environment: Lessons Learned During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

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Active learning is a student‐centered teaching technique that uses interactive, multimodal strategies to create a more engaging classroom setting compared to the traditional didactic lecture. Previous work by our research group showed that active learning in a first‐year dental school physiology course improved student confidence with the material, unit exam performance, long‐term retention of content, and perception of teaching effectiveness1. While there are many forms of active learning, this particular study utilized engaging lectures, in which students are given short periods of lecture, followed by “breaks” that can consist of minute papers, problem sets, brainstorming sessions, or open discussion.As the COVID‐19 pandemic forced faculty to suddenly shift to online teaching, there were concerns about how to actively engage students via distance learning. This was further complicated by an administrative decision at our School of Dentistry to present the course material in an asynchronous format using pre‐recorded lectures.Since the original study completed in 2013, the Dental Physiology course has increased the amount of active learning components with 48% of the contact hours containing a high degree of active learning, 23% moderate amounts of active learning, and 29% traditional didactic lectures. It was desired to assess the effectiveness of active learning strategies in an online, asynchronous environment on student performance, attentiveness, and satisfaction levels. This study was determined to be exempt by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Louisville (#20.0655). Results indicated that pre‐recorded sessions that incorporated active learning improved student performance compared to the pre‐recorded traditional lectures. Similarly, active learning improved student perceptions of the course and teaching faculty.However, compared to earlier sections of the course that were presented face‐to‐face, the online, asynchronous format significantly lowered overall student performance and satisfaction. These results suggest that online physiology teaching, when presented in an asynchronous format, may pose significant challenges. While this study demonstrated the continued effectiveness of active learning strategies, further research is needed to optimize these methods and effectively engage students in online, asynchronous coursework.1. Miller CJ, McNear J, and Metz MJ. A Comparison of Traditional and Engaging Lecture Methods in a Large, Professional‐Level Course. Adv Physiol Edu 37: 347‐355, 2013.