Attitudes and perceptions of dental students following the implementation of an online video and podcast compared to a traditional educational strategy in the endodontics course. A cross-sectional study

TL;DR

This study compares how dental students feel about learning endodontics through online videos and podcasts versus traditional methods.

Contribution

The study introduces online video and podcast as alternative educational tools in endodontics and evaluates student perceptions.

Findings

Students showed a statistically significant difference in scores between male and female participants.

A majority of students believed all three educational strategies should be used in endodontics teaching.

Students identified strengths in both the video and podcast formats without reporting weaknesses.

Abstract

To evaluate the attitudes and perceptions of dental students following the implementation of an online video and podcast compared to a traditional educational strategy in the Endodontics course.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among students enrolled in the Endodontics course. A measurement instrument was developed and validated through expert judgment; it consisted of fifteen items assessing attitudes and ten questions regarding perceptions. A 4.30-minute video was created on the topic of chamber access in maxillary teeth, and a 15-minute podcast was produced on pulpal lesions. Gender-based comparisons were conducted using the Wilcoxon test. Additionally, Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were applied for individual item associations with the gender covariate. A significance level of α < 0.05 was adopted.

A total of 21 male students (38%) and 34 female students (62%) participated, with a mean age of 22.80 years. The average attitude score was 67.33, with a maximum of 75 and a minimum of 55 points. A statistically significant difference was found between the scores of male and female students (p = 0.025). An association was observed between attitudes toward the use of the video (p = 0.049) and the podcast (p = 0.041) and the student’s gender. Additionally, 67.27% of students perceived that all three educational strategies should be used in the teaching process of endodontics. Students identified strengths in both the video and podcast, with no reported weaknesses.

The use of video and podcast in endodontics may serve as a valuable alternative to complement the content provided in undergraduate dental education.