Abstract:

The development of teaching in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) must come necessarily accompanied by changes in educational strategies, in which information technologies (ICT) play an important role. These have allowed the reorienting teacher's pedagogical practice towards the development of cognitive skills of the student with a training more flexible and student-centered.

This phenomenon has also influenced in dentistry and dental education specifically supported in instructional videos has proven helpful in preclinical learning of difficult procedures for the student.
In order to facilitate self-learning of students and their independence from traditional teaching methods, and with the institutional support from the University Complutense of Madrid, through 2 Projects for Innovation and Improvement of Teaching Quality (2010 and 2011 PIMCD), we have developed and implemented a teaching material (instructional videos) to learn techniques for restoring primary teeth in a preclinical teaching context. To check its effectiveness compared to the traditional method of teaching based on the theoretical exposition with the support of images, without the dynamism of the video, and without the student's self-learning facility, we evaluated the final product (cavities made in primary teeth of resin) in preclinical practices of two groups of students, one who has received instructional videos (3rd Grade of Dentistry) and another one that has not received this support. All pupils have had since the beginning of the evaluation, the matrix, which are the criteria to take into account.

We present the results of the evaluation of occlusal cavities (class I) in primary molars performed by 20 students in each group. In such cavities the differences were not significant. Working time was similar in both groups. Students who have received the videos have become more autonomous learners and they appreciated the possibility of consultation throughout the process and, like the most negative aspect, the lack of closer contact with professors of the practice. Students in 4th grade required a longer explanation, and they evaluated positively teacher´s mentoring, but they would have preferred a more dynamic way. Teachers rated more positively the incorporation of the videos to facilitate a more accurate explanation of the practice.
We believe that the videos provide great benefits for both, students and teachers, in learning processes, because the dynamism of the moving image reproduces more faithfully the practice. The help of tutorial video does not eliminate the work of teachers, who should reinforce the student’s contents.

Keywords:

Preclinical training, Pediatric Dentistry, instructional videos.