Formal Teaching Research Articles

Bracing Ourselves: Embracing Policy Changes through a Long-Standing University–Schools Teacher Education Partnership in England

We articulate the principles behind our practices as teacher educators for an Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provider in South-West England working in partnership with local schools. We position them as ‘braces’ that enable us not only to withstand but ‘embrace’ the challenges of the current policy environment, which imposes braces of its own. All ITE providers in England must present their curriculum and teaching plans for approval by the Department for Education, one of many significant changes to ITE required in England over the last decade. Furthermore, for such plans to be approved they must assume a model of schooling based on knowledge acquisition in tension with not only our own motivations but also a broader (global) conversation among teacher educators critical of policy priorities for schooling and professional teacher formation that prioritise success in high-stakes tests and international league tables. The braces/principles emerge through articulating our collective understandings of and concerns with the policy braces. Our principles connect to the processes we feel confident are necessary aspects of ‘becoming’ teachers and can hold our Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) together, going forwards. The braces—becoming an informed educator; becoming an ethical actor; becoming a reflective practitioner—have a distinctive form of reflexivity at their heart and should apply to everyone across our partnership: us, as university-based teacher educators; school-based colleagues; and pre-service teachers. We offer our approach and the braces/principles we have developed to others also struggling to reconcile their own notions of good teacher education with national policy imperatives.

Analyzing the Elements and Ramifications of Substance Abuse among Secondary School Students: A Case of Six Selected Secondary Schools in Chibombo District of Central Province, Zambia.

: This research examining the factors and consequences of drug abuse among secondary school pupils: a case of six selected secondary schools in Chibombo district of central province, Zambia. The study aimed at shedding light on the underlying factors contributing to drug abuse and its impact on the pupil’s population. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods; empirical data was collected from pupils, teachers, school head teachers and education officer through questionnaire guides. The researcher used purposive and simple random sampling, whereby the researcher selected 200 respondents as drowned out from the research population; this included 2 officers from the ministry of education, 6 head teachers, 60 teachers and 132 pupils in six selected secondary schools in Chibombo district of Central province, Zambia. The data which was collected was analysed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 25 to produce outputs according to the research objectives. Therefore, the study found out that the burden of substance abuse is still high in our study population and the prevalence was significantly higher among students who had not received any formal teachings on the subject. It therefore becomes imperative to incorporate teachings on substance abuse into the national school curriculum for secondary school students. The National School Health Policy needs to be expanded to incorporate this vital issue. The law enforcement agents regulating drug trafficking in and out of Zambia should begin to beam their search lights on secondary school students.

Exploring the declared and the formal and informal taught curricula at a UK dental school through the lens of pulp management.

Introduction This paper explores the declared and formal and informal taught endodontic curriculum within an undergraduate dental programme in the UK as part of a wider study, which also investigates the learned curriculum. Management of the dental pulp was chosen due to the availability of clear internationally recognised guidelines.Method The declared curriculum was identified through existing course guides and seminar and practical session plans. The formal taught curriculum was identified by cataloguing all lectures, practical teaching sessions, seminars and handouts available to dental students. Questionnaires using clinical vignettes were used to explore the informal taught curriculum.Results Valid responses to the questionnaire were received from 25/40 (62.5%) clinical supervisors. Disparities between national guidelines and the declared and taught curriculum were primarily due to broad learning objectives and disparate information from lectures and supervising clinicians. Although the majority of formal teaching aligned with national guidelines, the main deviation occurred within the informal taught curriculum.Conclusion This study highlights disparities between current evidence-based guidelines and the declared and taught curriculum in relation to pulp management in a UK dental school. Recommendations are that all policies, procedures and protocols are updated and aligned to a contemporaneous evidence base annually, plus engagement with clinical lecturers, to enable more standardised teaching.

The Role of Servant Leadership in Developing Spiritual Formation of Teachers

Leadership is the ability of an individual who holds a position and capacity to lead. Logically, a leader who leads must have others to lead and/or who will be led. Leadership can be examined from two aspects, namely religious/spiritual leadership and secular/natural leadership. The leadership to be addressed in this research is Christian Leadership with an emphasis on Servant Leadership. The aim of this research is to explore the phenomenon of Servant Leadership and explain its impact on spiritual growth. In this case, the role of Servant Leadership to be explored is the Servant Leadership of the Principal of SMP Dian Harapan Holland Village Manado, and its impact on the spiritual growth of fresh graduate teachers as individuals or followers who are led, based on a case study conducted on an object and subject of research. The research method used is qualitative with a case study approach. From the results of this research, it was found that fresh graduate teachers with less than one year of teaching experience can see, experience, and feel the Servant Leadership of the Principal of SMP Dian Harapan Holland Village Manado, which is considered as a humble person, through relationships, interactions, and communication with the Principal. The role of the Servant Leadership of the Principal is also perceived by fresh graduate teachers as helpful in their spiritual formation through mentoring, encouragement, and spiritual activities at school.

Informal peer-assisted learning amongst medical students: A qualitative perspective.

Peer-assisted learning (PAL) can occur informally as part of a medical programme and complements the formal curriculum. However, little is known about the mechanisms and processes of how informal peer-assisted learning (IPAL) is enacted. This paper presents data from an ethnographic and semi-structured interview study with Year 1 and 2 undergraduate medical students at a UK university. Peers were observed assisting each other informally: a process that developed as part of the integrated, group-based approach to undergraduate medical education at a UK university. IPAL took place both within and outside of formal teaching sessions and included explanation/clarification of particular points, sharing resources, guiding pronunciation and demonstrating skills. Students placed a high value on IPAL and believed that it was beneficial. When IPAL broke down, this led to negative emotions that presented obstacles to learning, such as resentment. IPAL is an important part of academic support for medical students, and this work shows both its scope, extending from formal to informal teaching, and how it is enacted. This understanding can help educators situate IPAL within student education.

UM NOVO OLHAR SOBRE A EDUCAÇÃO BÁSICA EM TEMPOS DE PANDEMIA

A new scenario has emerged in this year of 2020 in education worldwide. Therefore, it is necessary to outline this historic moment. Thus, this article meets the need to address Brazilian education in times of pandemic. The pandemic of the new coronavirus, Covid-19, made the reality of regular and vocational schools across Brazil a new teaching format, since face-to-face teaching was interrupted. In order to prevent the spread of the virus on an even greater scale than Brazil was, measures such as the suspension of face-to-face classes were taken in March 2020, seeking to reduce the spread of the new virus. Such a measure of suspension of face-to-face classes in public and private basic education networks in Brazil, established a new framework never experienced before: it was necessary to establish remote education and thus continue the school year in question. According to the World Bank report, more than 1.5 billion students were left without face-to-face studies in 160 countries. With this context, states and municipalities had to seek emergency exits to continue school activities. The solution found for the continuity of teaching, was with the help of remote teaching supports and the introduction of new methodologies, supported by digital technologies, because, from one hour to the next, the face-to-face classes were replaced for the distance learning modality (EAD), forcing teachers and students to quickly learn new communication and information technologies (ICTs).

Educação Superior

This study aimed to analyze and understand the teaching and learning process in the training of indigenous teachers, especially considering its impact on the training of these students who will work with students from the communities and the context of the realities of these populations. It is also intended to understand the functioning of PARFOR in the reality of São Antônio do Içá-AM; identify the methodologies used in the classroom in the disciplines of the training course, considering the contents that are taught in the classroom, focused on the reality of the communities; describe the processes of how the teaching and learning process is carried out and how the content is contextually worked and understood by the students; to analyze how teaching procedures occur in the classroom by teachers who teach at PARFOR for indigenous students in the Pedagogy class in Santo Antônio do Içá-AM. The work proposed here is confi gured as qualitative research, having taken place at the Nossa Senhora da Saúde Municipal School, where all course disciplines are taught in relation to the teaching-learning process of students/teachers. The objective of the research study is the teaching and learning process in the formation of indigenous teachers, especially considering its impact on the formation of these students who will work with students from the communities and the context of the realities of these populations. The focus is on teaching in the National Teacher Training Program for Basic Education (Parfor), in the municipality of Santo Antônio do Içá-AM.

Double trouble: the legacy of COVID-19 for early-career teachers and their pupils in wales

ABSTRACT This paper highlights the potential double trouble of early-career teachers, who were negatively impacted by a disrupted Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and/or induction period, being charged with supporting pupil cohorts whose learning was also uniquely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from interviews (n = 40) and an online survey (n = 465) with initial teacher education (ITE) stakeholders (school and HEI-based) from across Wales. The data illuminated how ITE students’ experiences of practice were profoundly impacted as schools responded to the constantly changing learning and teaching context. Concerns articulated portray an uncomfortable picture with extensive and multifaceted inequalities identified in terms of both pupils’ and student teachers’ experiences - with vulnerable learners in both groups reported to be the most impacted. This paper highlights the likely legacy of the pandemic on the ongoing development of both pupils’ and student teachers’ (now early-career professionals) and the double trouble this may present. We suggest that there is an ongoing need to further support the professional formation of these early-career teachers impacted by the pandemic in a sustained and individually tailored way. This will be particularly important in equipping them to support the complex needs of the multiple COVID-19 impacted cohorts they will continue to teach.

Formative Assessment of Professional Competencies of Future Geography Teachers

The article deals with modern trends in the modernization of control and assessment of educational achievements of future geography teachers, which contribute to increasing the motivation of their educational and cognitive activities and improving self-organization skills. It is established that the competency-based approach to the organization of the educational process includes determining the level and quality of professional competencies. The problem of finding new approaches to the assessment of educational activities and educational results of students is analyzed. It is proven that one of the ways to solve the outlined problem was the systematic implementation of formative assessment of educational achievements as a component of competency control technology. The concepts of “formative assessment”, “competency control”, “competency-oriented tasks” are explained and their place in the educational process is outlined. The model of the process of realization of formative assessment in higher education institutions, the algorithm for applying competency-oriented tasks, the structural components of the technology of competency control and formative assessment are presented. The work identifies and characterizes diagnostic, current-formative, self-assessment-formative, modular-formative, summative-normative and qualification types of assessment of students’ educational achievements. Based on the experience of implementing the technology of competency control and formative assessment, it was proven that it contributed to increasing the motivation and self-organization of students, allowed the teacher to diagnose and make positive changes to the educational process, and maintain feedback with students. Comparison of traditional assessment and the technology of competency control and formative assessment demonstrated its ability to comprehensively assess and determine the level of competency formation of future geography teachers. It was concluded that the introduction of this technology, on the one hand, enables teachers to ensure effective educational activities of students at a high level of motivation, self-organization and in accordance with their interests. On the other hand, it will contribute to the professional development of future geography teachers, who will teach students in the conditions of reforming national education.

Exploring socio-educational learning transfer between school and non-formal school football in six- and seven-year-old children

ABSTRACT Background Extracurricular activities are an inexorable training complement to the curricular learning promoted at school. Among the spectrum of possibilities, physical and sports activities stand out. School football is a privileged activity in the Spanish context due to its volume of participation and involvement. The educational-sports institutionalization of the child converges between the formal curricular planning of the school and the dynamic learning in extracurricular activities. Purpose This study aims to understand the main educational implications in the transfer of learning between the non-formal environment of school football and school, in order to seek optimization of monitoring strategies. Method An ethnographic case study design is presented, where 57 six-year-old and 44 seven-year-olds schoolchildren are accompanied during their first and second year of participation in football through participant observation. 207 observation sessions include families, relatives, rival teams, monitors and organizers and are carried out between matches, training sessions and school breaks, which are complemented by interviews with 21 of their teachers. Results The results categorize four outstanding learning transfer areas: quasi-schooling, socialization, Construction of a competitive identity and self-assessment. First, quasi-schooling, that represents the mobilization of curricular contents in school and in the family environment through football, combines formal teaching and non-formal learning environments. Balancing extracurricular activities, such as football, with academic responsibilities is a challenge. Football serves as a valuable educational tool, linking it to curriculum content, promoting healthy habits, and establishing connections with students. Second, football-mediated socialization revolves around the complex network of relationships within school football. It fosters social skills and cooperation among team members, while also highlighting social hierarchies based on skill levels. Those who enjoy football form close-knit groups, impacting classroom dynamics. Third, construction of a competitive identity involves the child's self-esteem and adaptation to team roles. Expectations, attributed profiles, emotional management, competitive morality, and self-esteem are key factors in shaping the child's identity within the competitive football environment. Finally, Evaluation in football is predominantly result-oriented, with judgments made by adults based on performance. Children internalize this perspective, creating their own self-assessment standards focused on quantifiable success and individual contributions to the team's outcome. Conclusion The study highlights the importance of coordination between school football and formal education. Communication among educational agents (families, educators and sports monitors) is crucial for optimizing children's learning. School football strengthens the educational relationship, promotes knowledge transfer, and enhances children's identity. Addressing conflicts, developing social skills, and fostering a healthy understanding of competition are recommended. Coordinating extracurricular activities is essential for meaningful and equitable education, bridging educational and social gaps.

Assessing students’ sustainability consciousness in relation to their perceived teaching styles: an exploratory study in Pakistani context

PurposeThis study aims to asses students’ sustainability consciousness (SC) in relation to their perceived teaching styles in seven public sector institutions in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachA survey technique was used to collect data from respondents. Grasha’s (1996) Teaching Styles Inventory and Gericke et al.’s (2019) Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire were used to collect data pertinent to teachers’ teaching styles and students’ SC, respectively. This study’s population was 1,986 students studying in seven educational institutions. A sample of 993 students was selected for the study. Out of the 993 questionnaires distributed, only 753 respondents returned the questionnaire completely filled, resulting in a response rate of 75.83%. Descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the data.FindingsThe results show that students’ mean scores on environmental and social dimensions were higher compared with the economic dimension. Similarly, students’ scores were relatively higher on the knowledge and attitude dimension while lower on the behavior dimension. Moreover, the expert and formal authority teaching styles were the most prevalent teaching styles. Furthermore, SEM results show that various teaching styles affected students’ knowledge and attitude; however, only the delegator teaching style affects all three dimensions of SC.Research limitations/implicationsThis research has implications for educational institutions and policymakers to ensure dedicated efforts to promote and integrate education for sustainable development into the educational system and achieve sustainability goals by 2030.Practical implicationsThe study findings will help future teachers to effectively integrate sustainability education into their classrooms.Originality/valueThis research expands the discussion on the effectiveness of various teaching styles on SC in teacher education programs.

On the possibilities of digital storytelling and reflective reports in the formation of FL teachers’ narrative competence

Relevance. The article describes an action research study on the use of digital storytelling and narrative reflective reports as tools for developing future foreign language teachers’ narrative competence. Purpose. The central purpose was to experiment ways of formation foreign language teachers’ narrative competence in context-based teaching. Methodology. The study involved 68 students of pedagogical faculty of foreign languages. Participants were divided into two groups: 34 third year students who have been involved in narrative project and 34 freshmen of master’s. Throughout their pedagogical practice, the third-year students practiced the course of digital storytelling and writing reflective reports. DS focuses on the students’ own personal experiences in the process of multimedia project creation and implies shaping of the story as well as sharing it with others. Through systematic reflection and analysis, students can develop reflexive and critical awareness, which can also provide the benefit of a documentation of their own professional development. In terms of developing reflective reports, authors revealed that future foreign language teachers are encouraged to examine their story-making processes productively, to create and re-create fresh accounts from different perspectives. Results and Conclusions. The results provide evidence indicating that students’ personal narratives guide classroom activities through the continuum of educational process. Creating narratives, students are cognitively involved, they pay attention to the crucial moments and results, analyzing and looking at themselves critically, developing narrative competence. The implications of these findings in relation to the foreign language teachers are also presented.

Pendekatan “Kasih Sayang" dalam Pembelajaran Bahasa Arab di Pondok Pesantren

This research was motivated by the results of a survey of researchers at the Islamic boarding school Majlis Tafsir Al-Quran Mojogedang, which applies the Kuliiyatul mu'alliminal Islamiyah (KMI) system, which requires students to discipline in official languages combined with the philosophy of the "Compassion" approach in formal and non-formal teaching and learning processes. This study aims to describe the pattern of the "Compassion" approach in Arabic learning in this cottage. Descriptive qualitative research with field research methods is used to achieve this goal. The subjects in this study were lodge leaders, KMI directors, teachers' Language Section (LAC), santri Language Section (CLI). Data is collected through observations, interviews, and documentation after the data is obtained, analyzed, and conclusions are drawn. The conclusion drawn from this study is that the Compassion Approach in language learning has been the foundation since the beginning of the Language learning system, starting from Planning, Organizing, Actuating, controlling, and Evaluating, the formation of a mature language system is the love of the lodge towards the students represented by the entire Language Advisory Board. Language activities such as Ilqa al-Mufrodāt, Muḥādaśah, Muḥādarah, Language Court, and Language Extracurricular Activities have become a means of "affection" for students in MTA Islamic boarding schools where these activities there is a pattern of compassion education patterns that have been arranged in such a way as responsibility, example, and non-violence.

IMPROVING OF READING COMPREHENSION FOR STUDENT LEARNING THROUGH THE USE OF SIMULATION MODELS CREATIVE PROCESS OF APPROACH AT CLASS XI MIPA2 OF SMAN 28 BONE.

In general, this research aims to boost reading comprehension study using a narrative approach to the creative process simulation models at class XI MIPA2 . Specifically this study aims to: Increasing the activity of a class XI MIPA 2 for student in the learning SMAN 28 Bone of narrative reading comprehension through the use of process simulation model creative approach. Improve student learning outcomes in teaching reading comprehension through the use of a narrative approach to the creative process simulation models at class XI MIPA2. Based on the analysis of the learning activities of students in reading comprehension in the first cycle, it was concluded that the achievement of the learning activities of students in reading comprehension through the use of process simulation model creative approach average Enough (65.23%). This is evident from the indicator appears, either at the stage of pre-reading, while reading and post-reading stage. Based on the results of the data analysis cycle I do reflection. Reflection on learning to read in understanding had done using a simulation model of the creative process approach. The data indicate that the activity of the teacher and the student learning process needs to be improved. This is consistent with the observation by observation format for teachers and students. Efforts is necessary to motivate teachers so that students are motivated to respond to the learning provided by the teacher. Based on the analysis of the learning activities of students in reading comprehension in the second cycle, it was concluded that the achievement of students in a learning activity descriptions based on the application essay writing process approach to simulation model of creative good average (75.40%). This is evident from the indicator that appears, either at the stage of pre-reading, while reading, and post-reading stage. Based on the results of the second cycle of data analysis done reflection. Reflection made ​​to pemebelajaran reading comprehension using process simulation model creative approach. Efforts are made teacher is need to improve on the current stage of learning reading and post-reading stage. The above data can be explained that the learning outcomes of students reading comprehension class average score 82.43 with 93.33% percentage of mastery learning. The percentages are in excellent qualifications. Data shows that 14 students scored Very Good, 14 students got good grades (good), and 2 students scored Include, the third cycle is no longer there students in categories of less or less once, thus there are only 2 people capable students under either category. Thus there are 2 people or 6.66% of students capable students under either category. Actual outcomes in the learning progress compared with the achievement of results at the previous meeting. Thus the success of data researchers in the learning process, according to the observations through format signs analysis of teaching and learning activities In the third cycle has shown an increase from the previous cycle. Based on the reflection is done, then the acquisition of the data will be displayed in the figure below, which shows the progress of student achievement in reading comprehension learning through the application of process simulation model creative approach on Indonesian subjects who started on pra-action, first cycle, second cycle, and the cycle III

The influence of transmedia and extra-academic narratives on the formation of the historical culture of high school students

This paper concerns with the importance of traditional and extra-academic sources of knowledge in the configuration of historical culture of Spanish adolescents. To conduct the research, a descriptive phenomenological approach has been designed by analyzing the responses of forty-eight students to a semi-structured interview in which they had to choose 5 characters of contemporary history and indicate the origin of the information. The results show the high coincidence about who are historical significant characters: males and politicians, coincident with other studies conducted in Spain and other countries of the near sociocultural context. The degree of coincidence can be considered as a homogeneous image of the historical culture of the participants. In that sense, there is a high rate of coincidence in the source where this vision of history is mainly generated: the history classroom. The information obtained leads us to confirm the need to reflect on the important stereotypes generated after many decades of formal history teaching with contents far from a necessary critical review. For this reason, it is necessary to reorient the teaching of history to provide a better critical reasoning about how the past is used to understand current societies (ontological perspective) along with how we know about the past (epistemological perspective).

Theories of education and educational research: Contributions to the continuous education of teachers

Scientific research in the educational field can become a great ally with regard to the construction of new knowledge and critical training for education professionals. It is through research that we will seek to become aware that we are producers of transforming knowledge, facilitating improvement and encouraging pedagogical work. Based on the above, this article aims to address the theories of education in some of its phases and its influence on the preparation of the educator, reflecting on the formation of teachers from the educational research which seeks to follow the course, maintaining a relationship dialectic between theory and practice, that is, from “understanding” to pedagogical “doing”. For the construction of the theoretical foundation of this research, we selected some authors, among them: Batista, Saviani, Suchodolski, Freire and Schnetzler. Discussions point out that teaching as a transforming action in society is renewed from teacher training, which is the result of research based on theories of education.

Who controls the curriculum? Notes on disciplinary communities from Ivor Goodson

The present study investigates the devaluation of specialised teaching knowledge and the prioritisation of general education based on competencies and skills at the secondary level in Brazil. The dissolution of the curricular disciplinary organisation poses a risk to teaching identities, and understanding how teachers constitute epistemic and disciplinary communities is crucial. Public imposed policies that are distant from the reality of schools tend to be rejected by the agents involved in the school process. In Brazil, the National Curriculum Basis, a high school common core, is an example of a legal document that does not engage in dialogue with the cultural diversity in Brazil, while discredit the specific formation of teachers. From a historical approach, this research analyses the polysemy of school subjects towards the teacher’s specialised identities. The methodological dispositive comprises narratives from specialist high school teachers in Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. Understanding how professionals organise themselves provides insight into the mechanisms of control and mediation in producing curriculum as socio-historical artifacts from power relationships and disputes. The struggle for control highlights the importance of teachers' agency in confrontation with neoliberal ideals for education and organising in subject or epistemic communities.

Discussion on the Implementation of the Teacher's Marketplace Program on the Career Follow-up of PPG Private Students

Marketplace is a database of prospective teachers that schools can recruit directly from. Parties that can be included in the Teacher Marketplace database are honorary teachers who have passed the P1 selection and are graduates of Pre-service PPG, so that the teacher recruitment process becomes simpler according to the needs of teacher formation in each school. However, this policy discourse received positive and negative responses from various groups, including PPG Pre-service Batch I and II 2022 students in terms of continuing their careers. This study intends to learn more about the teacher marketplace system that is anticipated to be implemented in 2024, the opinions of PPG Prabatan students on the debate over introducing the teacher marketplace, and what the best response to this debate should be using a descriptive approach and a qualitative research method, with the data source being relevant references and interviews. The study’s findings demonstrate that the teacher marketplace system, one of which is intended for pre-service PPG alumni students, is viewed as being more adaptable and simpler to use in deploying teachers in accordance with school demands. PPG Pre-service students, however, objected to the appellation “Teacher Marketplace” being used for this policy. Therefore, the government is expected to consider this policy properly.
 Keywords: education, teacher, teacher marketplace

Teaching The Nature of Order

This paper describes the teaching of Alexander’s magnum opus The Nature of Order as the main theoretical course of the Building Beauty Program. The course is taught online as a reading seminar for registered students, and a webinar open for all. It introduces the main insights of the four books that make up this work, discusses the format of teaching and how it evolved over the course of the program, and the impact it has on the students. Alexander’s main contribution was in formulating a theory that describes the phenomenon of life, in artefacts as well as in the natural world, in terms of geometrical configurations, and in connecting it to human feeling and sense of self. Furthermore, Alexander describes a unified process underlying both the human processes of building and making, as well as natural phenomena. All of this within a scientific framework which includes and extends modern science and opens the gate to a technology that connects us to the natural world and to ourselves. The course is taught as a reading seminar, interspersed with lectures on central ideas, as well as guest lectures, to allow students to encounter the work on their own terms, rather than imposing it as a doctrine. Our impact surveys show that studying The Nature of Order is indeed transformative and helps students in understanding and learning to work within the complex order of the world.

Formative key feature examinations as innovative teaching approach in dental education: A project report.

Clinical reasoning ability is one of the core competencies of physicians. It should already be trained during undergraduate medical education. At University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), medical students can participate in formative key feature examinations in which they work on virtual patient cases in order to apply and deepen the procedural knowledge acquired in lectures and seminars. While this teaching format is already established in the medical curriculum at the UMG, it has not yet been implemented in the dental curriculum at the same institution. Therefore, the current project aimed to evaluate the feasibility of formative key feature examinations in dental education. In 2022, new key feature cases focusing on dental-surgical teaching content were created. For pilot testing, the new cases were worked on by two cohorts of dental students via an online learning platform in February 2023. The students were also asked to complete an anonymous online questionnaire in order to evaluate the new teaching format. Overall, the formative key feature examinations were evaluated positively by the dental students, and they demanded for further dental key feature cases. However, descriptive analyses of item characteristics as well as students' comments in the questionnaire revealed some potential for improvements, so that a few cases were partly revised afterwards. This project shows that formative key feature examinations are feasible in dental education and that dental students can benefit from working on virtual case scenarios. Whether dental students' clinical reasoning competence can be improved by completing formative key feature examinations is being investigated in an ongoing study at the UMG.