Abstract
Purpose: Dental hygiene education continues to move beyond mastery of content material and skill development to learning concepts that promote critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of collaborative learning and determine the growth in intellectual development of 54 first-year dental hygiene students.
Methods: The control group used traditional pre-clinical teaching and the experimental group used collaborative pedagogy for instrument introduction. All students were subjected to a post-test evaluating their ability to apply the principles of instrumentation. Intellectual development was determined using pre- and post-tests based on the Perry Scheme of Intellectual Development. Student attitudes were assessed using daily Classroom Assessment Activities and an end-of-semester departmental course evaluation.
Results: Findings indicated no significant difference between collaborative learning and traditional learning in achieving pre-clinical competence as evidenced by the students' ability to apply the principles of instrumentation. Advancement in intellectual development did not differ significantly between groups. Value added benefits of a collaborative learning environment as identified by the evaluation of student attitudes included decreased student reliance on authority, recognition of peers as legitimate sources of learning and increased self-confidence. A significant difference in student responses to daily classroom assessments was evident on the 5 days a collaborative learning environment was employed.
Conclusion: Dental hygiene students involved in a pre-clinical collaborative learning environment are more responsible for their own learning and tend to have a more positive attitude toward the subject matter. Future studies evaluating collaborative learning in clinical dental hygiene education need to investigate the cost/benefit ratio of the value added outcomes of collaborative learning.
- Classroom Assessment
- Collaborative Learning
- Dental Hygiene Education
- Intellectual Development
- Learning Environment Preference
- Measure of Intellectual Development
- Perry Scheme of Intellectual Development
- Preclinical Course
- Principles of Instrumentation
Footnotes
-
Laura J. Mueller-Joseph, RDH, EdD, is a professor and chairperson at the Department of Dental Hygiene and Acting Assistant Dean, The Theresa Patnode Santmann School of Health Sciences. Luisa Nappo-Dattoma, RDH, RD, EdD, is an associate professor at the Department of Dental Hygiene. Both are faculty at Farmingdale State College, State University of New York.
-
This study supports the NDHRA priority area, Professional Education and Development: Validate and test measures that evaluate student critical thinking and decision-making skills.
- Copyright © 2013 The American Dental Hygienists’ Association