Learning by Concordance as a Tool for Paediatric Dental Traumatology Education

Introduction

A learning by concordance (LbC) tool including 33 vignettes was developed jointly by teachers from the Y and the University of X to train undergraduate dental students in paediatric dental traumatology. The aim of this work was to present a learning tool not yet described in the community of dental educators. The method was presented on two different electronic platforms to two groups of students. Different modalities were compared.

Methodology

International panellists were asked to detail their reasoning for resolving ambiguous or complex situations described in clinical vignettes. Two groups were approached: a first group composed of students new to LbC (Y group) and a second group that had already experienced this type of learning method (X group). The modalities of training management differed according to the groups: Y group used the Wooclap platform and responded on a 5-modality Likert scale, while X group used Moodle and a 3-modality Likert scale. Student volunteers were able to complete a qualitative survey about the training. The main indicator used was students' opinions and feelings about different aspects of the tool.

Results

The training was completed by 121 students, 53 of whom agreed to give their opinion on the tool. Consistent with current knowledge, we found that novices had difficulty answering a 5-modality Likert scale because of the subtle difference between two close answers.

Conclusion

This is the first study to introduce a LbC tool in dental education and the results showed a strong interest in this type of pedagogical tool, regardless of the online platform used.