ENHANCING LEARNING WITH INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Teaching in health sciences should be combine scientific evidence with accumulated clinical experience. Currently, this teaching is supplemented with a student-centered learning, in which the student becomes responsible for their own learning, and where Information and Communication Technology (ICT) represents a learning aid in order to present, process and integrate information.

Objective:
To examine if the use of ICT helps students in improving their basic skills in training in Dentistry, specifically in periodontal diagnosis.

Specific objective:
To compare a test (supported by an ICT tool) and a control groups, in terms of the performance in periodontal diagnosis.

Method:
Firstly, diagnostic virtual guides were constructed using the material resulting from the application of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in the subject of Periodontology. Subsequently, an experimental study was designed with students of the subject of Periodontology (2nd year course), who were randomized into a test (n=25) and a control group (n=36). The test group received reinforcement in their learning by accessing these virtual guides. Both groups were examined at the beginning and at the end of the course. T test was used to compare marks between the test and control groups.

Result:
The marks of the students of the test group improved significantly their performance in diagnosis (initial marks 5.64 ± 2.36 vs final marks 7.42 ± 1.67), when compared to the changes the control group (initial marks 5.83 ± 2.23 vs final marks 5.69 ± 2.21) (p= 0.0003). The number of students, who obtained the minimum mark to pass the exam, was significantly higher (81.8%), when compared to those of the control group (37.9%) (p= 0.003).

Conclusion:
The use of virtual guides improves the performance of students in periodontology diagnosis, in the teaching of Periodontology.