Journal of dental education
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The objectives of this study were to explore 1) how students across the four years of a dental curriculum differed in attitudes towards underserved patients and community service at the beginning and end of each school year; 2) how these attitudes changed as a function of participating in required vs. voluntary community-based activities; and 3) what attitudes faculty members held about the effects of community service-learning on students. Surveys were distributed to 440 students at one dental school at the beginning and end of the school year. The overall response rate for those surveys was 75 percent, with variations among classes: first year, 94 percent; second year, 92 percent; third year, 69 percent; and fourth year, 43 percent. ⋯ Participating in voluntary service-learning improved students' attitudes towards treating underserved patients only in the short run, and experiencing ten weeks of community-based dental education did not improve their attitudes. The faculty respondents' attitudes, however, were quite positive. The decrease in students' positive attitudes towards treating underserved patients and participating in community service should raise questions about why this loss of idealism occurred.
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Comparative Study
Utilization of blended learning to teach preclinical endodontics.
Blended learning (BL) is the integration of classroom learning with an online environment. The purpose of this study was to determine whether dental students who experienced BL in a preclinical endodontic course demonstrated better manual skills, conceptual knowledge, and learning experience compared to those experiencing traditional learning. All eighty-one students (100 percent) in a preclinical endodontics course agreed to participate and were assigned to either the traditional or BL group. ⋯ The BL group scored better than the traditional group on the manual skills exercise at a statistically significant level (p=0.0067). There were no differences in the post-intervention quiz scores between the two groups, and the students' opinions were positive regarding BL. With BL, the students were able to learn and demonstrate dental skills at a high level.