Design, implementation, and evaluation of a learning web application for oral and maxillofacial pathology.

Abstract

Background: Studying pathology is not a fascinating subject for many students. Today, novel educational methods have received attention worldwide. This study aimed to design an oral and maxillofacial pathology learning application and evaluate its effectiveness on dental students' knowledge of the Isfahan dental faculty.

Materials and methods: In this experimental study, after designing a web application, including an oral pathology context (PathoGAME), its effectiveness on 112 junior dental students' knowledge was investigated in 2022. After introducing the application, students were motivated to use the app for learning oral pathology. They were then examined in the midterm and final examinations. Subsequently, their scores on the questions related to the application's contents were compared with the scores of other questions. Finally, students' satisfaction with the application was evaluated. The data were analyzed using SPSS software and paired t-tests, Pearson's tests, and analysis of variance.

Results: In the midterm examination, there was no significant difference between the mean score of questions related or unrelated to the application's content among those who had used the application. Furthermore, the mean scores of the related questions for the application users and those who did not, were not significantly different (P = 0.5). However, on the final examination, the mean score for questions related to the application was significantly greater for students who used the application than for those who did not (P = 0.03).

Conclusion: Overall, novel educational methods, such as this application, were beneficial for improving students' understanding of pathology. The users' satisfaction was high in utilizing this application, indicating the application's success and confirming its feasibility.