(PO-098) Dental Students' Perspective on Virtual Instruction for Case-based Tutorials

Author: David T. Wu, D.M.D. – Periodontology Resident & DMSc Candidate, Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Author: Jennifer Chen, D.D.S., D.Med.Sc – Instructor in Oral Medicine, Infection, and Immunity, Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Author: Hiroe Ohyama, D.M.D. – Assistant Professor, Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Submitter: David T. Wu, D.M.D. – Periodontology Resident & DMSc Candidate, Harvard School of Dental Medicine

Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, didactic courses, tutorials and seminars have transitioned to virtual online format. Due to limited clinical exposures, students valued the small group case-based interactive discussion. The objective of this study was to understand students’ experiences and perceptions of the virtual small group case-based interactive discussion, and explore students’ preference between in-person vs. virtual format for future learning.

Methods: 32 third-year students participated in Treatment of Active Disease course (a multi-disciplinary course learning management of active disease). As part of the course, students had virtual tutorial sessions, which were given as small group (~8 students per group) interactive case-based. 7 multidisciplinary clinical cases were discussed over 10 weeks (twice a week for 1 hr long). An anonymous survey was distributed to students at the end of tutorial sessions. The survey is composed of six questions (2 quantitative and 4 qualitative) exploring student perspectives on virtual learning including student preference between in-person vs. virtual leaning, student perception of the effectiveness of virtual learning, advantages of virtual tutorials and suggestions for improvement of student engagement.

Results: 23/32 (71.9%) students participated in the survey. Although the majority of students (65.2%) deemed the virtual format to be effective, a significant portion of students were either neutral (21.7%) or did not believe (13%) the virtual format to be effective. Interestingly, similar number of students preferred future tutorials to be delivered virtually (65.2%) compared to in-person (34.8%). Furthermore, we report students’ feedback about the advantages and challenges of virtual tutorials, and suggestions for student engagement for future virtual education.

Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, we conclude that there is a dichotomy between students’ preference of virtual vs. in-person instruction for small group case-based learning. We provide insight into the advantages, challenges and future improvements for virtual dental education.