Student evaluation of clickers in a dental pathology course.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the degree of satisfaction of students and teachers, and to determine whether the students notice improvements in learning and in the learning environment as a result of the use of clicker.


METHODS
Descriptive study. Fifty-one students and 8 teachers participated in the use of clicker technology in 8 preclinical seminars in dental pathology. Students and teachers filled a three-domain questionnaire at the end of the preclinical course. We used the Mann-Whitney U-test to compare the results between the two groups.


RESULTS
The domain "perception and expectation" showed the use of clickers to be simple and convenient for 80% of the students, who expressed interest in extending the practice to other teaching areas. In the domain "active learning", over 70% of the students found the technique to be dynamic, participative and motivating. In the domain "improved learning", over 70% considered it useful to know their level of knowledge before the seminar and found the contents of the lesson to be clear. Thirty percent considered the items of the examination to be of a complexity similar to that of the first and second tests. Only in this latter aspect were significant differences found between the teachers and students (p=0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Participants described the use of clickers as simple and useful, motivating and participative. Both the students and teachers considered the technique to improve teaching and the learning environment. Key words:Dental education, audience response system, clickers, classroom response system, student´s perception.
MD, DDS, PhD, Department of Stomatology. Universitat de València, C/ Gascó Oliag, 1. 46010 Valencia, Spain.
Carmen
C
Llena
MD, DDS, PhD, Department of Stomatology. Universitat de València, C/ Gascó Oliag, 1. 46010 Valencia, Spain.
Leopoldo
L
Forner
DDS, Department of Stomatology. Universitat de València, C/ Gascó Oliag, 1. 46010 Valencia, Spain.
Roger
R
Cueva