Social networking website increases efficacy and engagement in a distance learning course about oral lesions.
case-based learning
continuing dental education
distance
oral medicine
Journal
Journal of dental education
ISSN: 1930-7837
Titre abrégé: J Dent Educ
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 8000150
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
30 Oct 2023
30 Oct 2023
Historique:
revised:
02
08
2023
received:
22
02
2023
accepted:
20
10
2023
medline:
31
10
2023
pubmed:
31
10
2023
entrez:
31
10
2023
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
Distance learning appears to be an attractive approach to continuing education courses, but one barrier is maintaining learner engagement throughout the course. The primary aim of this research was to evaluate the operational efficacy of a private Facebook™ group (FG) in serving as a support mechanism for distance learning courses, and its impact on three fundamental dimensions: the attrition rates of participants who did not complete the course (commonly referred to as dropout rates), the rates of course completion and approval, and the overall performance of the participants. The participants of this quasi-experimental study comprised 159 dental students and 565 dentists enrolled in an e-learning course on oral mucosal lesion diagnosis. Prior to the initiation of the course, all participants were provided with the option to join a private FG. Within this group, moderators shared motivational messages and provided reminders concerning deadlines. Moreover, participants had the opportunity to engage in interactive discussions pertaining to topics related to the course. The course itself followed a self-guided format, employing the flipped-classroom methodology, spanning a total of 50 instructional hours. In order to assess the effectiveness of the course, participants were presented with photographs illustrating 30 oral lesions and were asked to propose diagnostic hypotheses both before and after the educational intervention (pre-tests and post-tests). Dentists who participated in the FG exhibited a significantly lower rate of discontinuation. As for dental students, their involvement in the group was positively associated with better performance, as determined by the percentage of accurate diagnostic hypotheses (a minimum of 70% correct responses was required for their approval in the course). Facebook™ demonstrates promise as a supplementary pedagogical tool in distance education courses. The interactive nature of the platform has the potential to alleviate the inherent challenges of remote learning.
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Informations de copyright
© 2023 American Dental Education Association.
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