title: Comparing face-to-face, synchronous, and asynchronous learning: postgraduate dental resident preferences.
abstract: The Department of Dental Medicine of Lutheran Medical Center has developed an asynchronous online curriculum consisting of prerecorded PowerPoint presentations with audio explanations. The focus of this study was to evaluate if the new asynchronous format satisfied the educational needs of the residents compared to traditional lecture (face-to-face) and synchronous (distance learning) formats. Lectures were delivered to 219 dental residents employing face-to-face and synchronous formats, as well as the new asynchronous format; 169 (77 percent) participated in the study. Outcomes were assessed with pretests, posttests, and individual lecture surveys. Results found the residents preferred face-to-face and asynchronous formats to the synchronous format in terms of effectiveness and clarity of presentations. This preference was directly related to the residents' perception of how well the technology worked in each format. The residents also rated the quality of student-instructor and student-student interactions in the synchronous and asynchronous formats significantly higher after taking the lecture series than they did before taking it. However, they rated the face-to-face format as significantly more conducive to student-instructor and student-student interaction. While the study found technology had a major impact on the efficacy of this curricular model, the results suggest that the asynchronous format can be an effective way to teach a postgraduate course.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Kunin is Associate Director of Postgraduate Endodontics, Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY; Mr. Julliard is Assistant Vice President for Clinical Research, Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY; and Dr. Rodriguez is Vice President of Education, AAL, Atlanta, GA. mkunin@lmcmc.com.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kunin
authors.affiliation: Dr. Kunin is Associate Director of Postgraduate Endodontics, Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY; Mr. Julliard is Assistant Vice President for Clinical Research, Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY; and Dr. Rodriguez is Vice President of Education, AAL, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Kell N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Julliard
authors.affiliation: Dr. Kunin is Associate Director of Postgraduate Endodontics, Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY; Mr. Julliard is Assistant Vice President for Clinical Research, Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY; and Dr. Rodriguez is Vice President of Education, AAL, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Tobias E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001296:Audiovisual Aids; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D003479:Curriculum; D004497:Education, Dental; D020375:Education, Distance; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods; D018961:Educational Technology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009862:Online Systems; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D013685:Telecommunications; D014741:Video Recording; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: computers in dentistry; dental education; distance education; distance learning; postdoctoral dental education; technology; video teleconferencing