• Sama Ria, Margaret J Cox, Barry F Quinn, Jonathan P San Diego, Ali Bakir, and Mark J Woolford.
• Dr. Ria is a clinician, Oral and Maxillofacial Department, Northwick Park Hospital, London; Dr. Cox is Emerita Professor of Information Technology in Education, Dental Institute and School of Education and Communication Studies, King's College London; Dr. Quinn is Senior Specialist Clinical Teacher, Dental Institute, King's College London; Dr. San Diego is Head of ITEL Hub Team, Dental Institute, King's College London; Dr. Bakir is Honorary Clinical Research Fellow, Centre for Primary Care and Public Health, Blizard Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry; and Dr. Woolford is Professor of Education and Conservative Dentistry and Associate Dean for Education, King's College London Dental Institute.
• J Dent Educ. 2018 Mar 1; 82 (3): 277-285.

AbstractThe aim of this study was to develop and test a scoring system to assess the learning progression of novice dental students using haptic virtual workstations. For the study, 101 first-year dental students at a UK dental school conducted one practice task (task 1) and four simulated cavity removal tasks (tasks 2-5) of increasing difficulty over two laboratory sessions in 2015. Performance data on the students' attempts were recorded as haptic technology-enhanced learning (hapTEL) log-files showing the percentage of caries, healthy tissue, and pulp removed. On-screen results were photographed and submitted by the students to the tutors. A scoring system named the Accuracy of Caries Excavation (ACE) score was devised to score these results and achieve an even distribution of scores and a calculated combined score. A total of 127 individual logged attempts by 80% of the students over sessions 1 and 2 were recorded and submitted to the tutors. The mean ACE scores for both sessions for tasks 2 through 5 were 9.2, 11.6, 6.4, and 4.9, respectively; for Session 2 (tasks 3-5), scores were 12.4, 6.7, and 5.0, respectively (p<0.001). The average performance on task 3, which was attempted in similar numbers during both sessions, improved from the first to the second session (8.14 vs. 12.38; p=0.009). Using the HapTEL system in a first-year BDS curriculum improved the students' performance of simulated cavity preparation after practicing over two sessions. Use of the ACE scoring system enabled tutors to make consistent assessments across a large student cohort and provided an objective method of formative assessment.

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