Dental Education Challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period in Italy: Undergraduate Student Feedback, Future Perspectives, and the Needs of Teaching Strategies for Professional Development
The COVID-19 pandemic literally stopped most human movement and activities as it initially spread, which included dental practices and dental education. This defined the need for significative changes in teaching and learning with the use of “e-learning” methods, also for traineeships. This study wa...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/4/454 |
| _version_ | 1797537958662766592 |
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| author | Giuseppe Varvara Sara Bernardi Serena Bianchi Bruna Sinjari Maurizio Piattelli |
| author_facet | Giuseppe Varvara Sara Bernardi Serena Bianchi Bruna Sinjari Maurizio Piattelli |
| author_sort | Giuseppe Varvara |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The COVID-19 pandemic literally stopped most human movement and activities as it initially spread, which included dental practices and dental education. This defined the need for significative changes in teaching and learning with the use of “e-learning” methods, also for traineeships. This study was designed to determine the undergraduate student perception of these new methods as part of their education. This involved 353 students attending the Dental School of the G. D’Annunzio University of Chieti–Pescara, from the first to the sixth years. A questionnaire in Italian and was set-up using “Google Forms” and sent by email to the students. The questionnaire was divided into three parts: the first part included questions for general information, including age, sex and year of course; the second part had multiple choice questions related to their evaluation of the e-learning teaching, using a scale of opinion in the replies to each question (e.g., “scarce”, “fair”, “satisfying”, “very good” and “excellent”); and the third part included two open questions to indicate the strengths and limitations of these new teaching and learning approaches. The categorical variables in the first and second parts of the questionnaire were evaluated using Chi squared tests, setting significance at <i>p</i> < 0.05, while the comments were evaluated qualitatively. The student feedback showed significant appreciation (<i>p</i> < 0.05) of the new methods and the efforts that the lecturers put in to provide lectures of as high a quality as possible. However, a lack of practical training was significantly perceived as an important problem in the structure of their new curriculum (<i>p</i> < 0.05). COVID-19 has been an epic tragedy that has hit the human population not only in terms of health and healthcare, but also quality of life. This includes the quality of dental education within universities. However, the pandemic can be seen to also represent motivation to invest in the necessary technological innovation to deliver the best possible education to our future dentists. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:23:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e59d977a2b214d22840947f12533b8b4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:23:39Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-e59d977a2b214d22840947f12533b8b42023-11-21T15:15:49ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322021-04-019445410.3390/healthcare9040454Dental Education Challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period in Italy: Undergraduate Student Feedback, Future Perspectives, and the Needs of Teaching Strategies for Professional DevelopmentGiuseppe Varvara0Sara Bernardi1Serena Bianchi2Bruna Sinjari3Maurizio Piattelli4Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry, University of Chieti–Pescara ‘Gabriele d’Annunzio’, via dei Vestini 11, 66100 Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Innovative Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry, University of Chieti–Pescara ‘Gabriele d’Annunzio’, via dei Vestini 11, 66100 Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, via Vetoio Coppito 2, 67100 L’Aquila, ItalyDepartment of Innovative Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry, University of Chieti–Pescara ‘Gabriele d’Annunzio’, via dei Vestini 11, 66100 Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Innovative Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry, University of Chieti–Pescara ‘Gabriele d’Annunzio’, via dei Vestini 11, 66100 Chieti, ItalyThe COVID-19 pandemic literally stopped most human movement and activities as it initially spread, which included dental practices and dental education. This defined the need for significative changes in teaching and learning with the use of “e-learning” methods, also for traineeships. This study was designed to determine the undergraduate student perception of these new methods as part of their education. This involved 353 students attending the Dental School of the G. D’Annunzio University of Chieti–Pescara, from the first to the sixth years. A questionnaire in Italian and was set-up using “Google Forms” and sent by email to the students. The questionnaire was divided into three parts: the first part included questions for general information, including age, sex and year of course; the second part had multiple choice questions related to their evaluation of the e-learning teaching, using a scale of opinion in the replies to each question (e.g., “scarce”, “fair”, “satisfying”, “very good” and “excellent”); and the third part included two open questions to indicate the strengths and limitations of these new teaching and learning approaches. The categorical variables in the first and second parts of the questionnaire were evaluated using Chi squared tests, setting significance at <i>p</i> < 0.05, while the comments were evaluated qualitatively. The student feedback showed significant appreciation (<i>p</i> < 0.05) of the new methods and the efforts that the lecturers put in to provide lectures of as high a quality as possible. However, a lack of practical training was significantly perceived as an important problem in the structure of their new curriculum (<i>p</i> < 0.05). COVID-19 has been an epic tragedy that has hit the human population not only in terms of health and healthcare, but also quality of life. This includes the quality of dental education within universities. However, the pandemic can be seen to also represent motivation to invest in the necessary technological innovation to deliver the best possible education to our future dentists.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/4/454dentistryeducationCOVID-19public healthpandemic |
| spellingShingle | Giuseppe Varvara Sara Bernardi Serena Bianchi Bruna Sinjari Maurizio Piattelli Dental Education Challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period in Italy: Undergraduate Student Feedback, Future Perspectives, and the Needs of Teaching Strategies for Professional Development Healthcare dentistry education COVID-19 public health pandemic |
| title | Dental Education Challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period in Italy: Undergraduate Student Feedback, Future Perspectives, and the Needs of Teaching Strategies for Professional Development |
| title_full | Dental Education Challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period in Italy: Undergraduate Student Feedback, Future Perspectives, and the Needs of Teaching Strategies for Professional Development |
| title_fullStr | Dental Education Challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period in Italy: Undergraduate Student Feedback, Future Perspectives, and the Needs of Teaching Strategies for Professional Development |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dental Education Challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period in Italy: Undergraduate Student Feedback, Future Perspectives, and the Needs of Teaching Strategies for Professional Development |
| title_short | Dental Education Challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period in Italy: Undergraduate Student Feedback, Future Perspectives, and the Needs of Teaching Strategies for Professional Development |
| title_sort | dental education challenges during the covid 19 pandemic period in italy undergraduate student feedback future perspectives and the needs of teaching strategies for professional development |
| topic | dentistry education COVID-19 public health pandemic |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/4/454 |
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