The effect of e-learning on the quality of orthodontic appliances

Purpose: The effect of e-learning on practical skills in medicine has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Today’s multimedia learning environment and access to e-books provide students with more knowledge than ever before. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of online demonstrations co...

Verfasser: Schorn-Borgmann, Stephanie
Lippold, Carsten
Wiechmann, Dirk
Stamm, Thomas
FB/Einrichtung:FB 05: Medizinische Fakultät
Dokumenttypen:Artikel
Medientypen:Text
Erscheinungsdatum:2015
Publikation in MIAMI:19.11.2015
Datum der letzten Änderung:15.12.2022
Angaben zur Ausgabe:[Electronic ed.]
Quelle:Advances in Medical Education and Practice 6 (2015), 545-552
Schlagwörter:e-learning, orthodontics, laboratory, skills, appliances
Fachgebiet (DDC):610: Medizin und Gesundheit
Lizenz:CC BY-NC 3.0
Sprache:English
Anmerkungen:Finanziert durch den Open-Access-Publikationsfonds 2015/2016 der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster (WWU Münster).
Format:PDF-Dokument
ISSN:1179-7258
URN:urn:nbn:de:hbz:6-57279504610
Weitere Identifikatoren:DOI: 10.2147/AMEP.S78794
Permalink:https://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:6-57279504610
Onlinezugriff:AMEP-78794-the-effect-of-e-learning-on-the-quality-of-orthodontic-appli_082715.pdf

Purpose: The effect of e-learning on practical skills in medicine has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Today’s multimedia learning environment and access to e-books provide students with more knowledge than ever before. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of online demonstrations concerning the quality of orthodontic appliances manufactured by undergraduate dental students. Materials and methods: The study design was a parallel-group randomized clinical trial. Fifty-four participants were randomly assigned to one of the three groups: 1) conventional lectures, 2) conventional lectures plus written online material, and 3) access to resources of groups one and two plus access to online video material. Three orthodontic appliances (Schwarz Plate, U-Bow Activator, and Fränkel Regulator) were manufactured during the course and scored by two independent raters blinded to the participants. A 15-point scale index was used to evaluate the outcome quality of the appliances. Results: In general, no significant differences were found between the groups. Concerning the appliances, the Schwarz Plate obtained the highest scores, whereas the Fränkel Regulator had the lowest scores; however, these results were independent of the groups. Females showed better outcome scores than males in groups two and three, but the difference was insignificant. Age of the participants also had no significant effect. Conclusion: The offer that students could use additional time and course-independent e-learning resources did not increase the outcome quality of the orthodontic appliances. The advantages of e-learning observed in the theoretical fields of medicine were not achieved in the educational procedures for manual skills. Factors other than e-learning may have a higher impact on manual skills, and this should be investigated in further studies.