Abstract:

The visual aids for learning advanced over the last several decades. With the approach digital slice imaging, there is an opportunity to complement the way of teaching and learning histology.

The aims of this study were:
1. To assess the opinion of sophomore dental students of the use of digital microscopy, in the Histology and Anatomical Pathology course, in comparison with light microscopy.
2. To compare the opinion of the students from “National” group, whose students are mainly from Spain, versus “International” group, whose students are from different countries.

Practical classes were using computer rooms as a Virtual Microscopy Laboratory. Every student had access to a desktop computer with the Leica SCN400 Image Viewer installed, and free access to the virtual drive hosted. Student satisfaction was assessed using 12 questions survey with three possible answers (Agree, Undecided, Disagree). First, we determined the percentage of students in agreement with a particular question of the study. Secondly, Chi-square test was used to compare differences between groups. Statistical significance was defined as p<0.05.

The survey data indicated that students were satisfied with virtual microscopy. Students pointed out that Virtual microscopy is a useful tool and enhanced their learning of the material in this course. We only found significant differences between them in three questions. In general, students consider virtual microscopy a significant improvement for the study of histology. As lecturers, we must adapt to new trends and integrate technological innovations into our courses as a means of information, training, knowledge and continuous learning, which could facilitate the teacher-student communication. Likewise, we have to consider the student profile.

Keywords:

Microscopy, virtual microscopy, dentistry.