Abstract
This article describes the development and testing of an online asynchronous clinical learning resource named “Ask the Expert” to enhance clinical learning in dentistry. After the resource development, dental students from years 3 and 4 were randomly allocated to two groups (Group A—“Ask the Expert” and L—“lecturer-led”). All the students attempted a pre-test related to replacement of teeth in the anterior aesthetic zone. Group A (33 students) underwent an online case-based learning session of 60 minutes’ duration without a facilitator, while Group L (27 students) concurrently underwent a case-based learning session of 60 minutes’ duration with a lecturer facilitating the session. An immediate post-test was conducted followed by a retention test after one week. Student feedback was obtained. There was a significant increase in the test scores (maximum score 10) for both groups when comparing the pre-test (Group A—5.61 ± 1.34, Group L—5.22 ± 1.57) and immediate post-test scores (Group A—7.42 ± 1.34, Group L—8.04 ± 1.22; paired t-test, p < 0.001). However, no significant difference was observed in the test scores when comparing Group A to Group L for both the immediate post-test as well as the retention test (Group A—5.36 ± 1.29, Group L—5.33 ± 1.39 (independent sample t-test, p > 0.05). To conclude, adequately structured online asynchronous learning resources are comparable in their effectiveness to online synchronous learning in the undergraduate dental curriculum.
Highlights
Learning from clinical cases or case-based learning provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate application of knowledge, augmenting the relevance of their learning [1]
The average time taken for the development of a clinical case as a learning resource was calculated to be 180 min
The time calculated included the contribution by the student, the lecturer and the personnel involved in editing and uploading the content (Supplementary Material, Figure S2)
Summary
Learning from clinical cases or case-based learning provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate application of knowledge, augmenting the relevance of their learning [1]. In view of the current pandemic, these sessions are routinely being conducted as online synchronous sessions between a lecturer and a group of students. These discussions are usually isolated bundles of learning between a faculty and a group of students. This approach provides restricted opportunity for feedback from other faculty who are not involved in the primary discussion and precludes the participation from students who are undergoing clinical learning in other cohorts
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