Abstract:

Cell biology and histology are basic sciences that study the levels of organization in between the gross morphological and the molecular levels. They are included in the curricula of the preclinical years of medical and dental degrees. Cell biology and histology courses are usually perceived as difficult to pass and high failure rates reduce indeed learners’ interest and engagement. Research has shown that students learn more while actively engaged, and that engagement occurs throughout interactions with the content, peers, and instructors. Among active learning strategies, adaptive flipped classroom (AFC) is an advanced approach based on interactions between instructor and students prior to face-to-face sessions. Learners are expected to complete some assignments meant to make them reflect and reveal their comprehension and learning difficulties. With this methodology instructors can tailor teaching to their specific needs.

A pilot AFC approach was implemented in the Cell Biology and Histology subject which is part of the Dental Degree in the Complutense University of Madrid. AFC was applied to 42% of the histology syllabus along two consecutive courses. At the beginning of the 2021-22 course, the class was split into two halves due to the pandemic, so while one half of the students went to face-to-face classes the other half attended online via Microsoft Teams. The two halves turned weekly, so all the students attended the same number of face-to-face and online sessions. As a result of the improvement of the pandemic, two months after the beginning, classes reverted to conventional face-to-face teaching just after finishing AFC units.

The aim of the present study is to present an AFC approach applied to the histology program of a dentistry degree to enhance engagement and active learning, the students’ perceptions, and to assess if appraisals were consistent or not in two consecutive courses.
A high level of engagement was achieved in both courses, materials provided were positively considered as well as tasks that students should complete before attending class. Nevertheless, major differences were also found. 80% of respondents welcomed AFC in 2021-22 vs. 49% in 2022-23, 94% vs. 71% stated that AFC had an influence on learning as it helped them be better prepared, pay more attention in class and improve understanding. Moreover, 76% vs. 47% felt they got flipped units better prepared than those delivered in lectures, and 84% vs. 62% felt time spent produced a better learning experience. Differences were statistically significant (p <0.05, ꭓ2 test).

Besides comparing the outcomes in both courses, a deep and honest reflection is needed to find out what underlies the conflicting perceptions and why students’ appraisals differ so strongly.

Keywords:

Higher education, Dental education, Histology education, Adaptive flipped classroom, Undergraduates’ perceptions.