Somayeh Eskini, Sandra Mehralizadeh2, Arian Haddadi,
Volume 21, Issue 2 (jrds 2024)
Abstract
Background and Aim: With increasing concerns over the stochastic effects of x-ray radiation in dental radiography, effective education of dental students in this field is important. According to studies, educational softwares enhance learning, therefore the aim of this study was to develop an educational software for dental radiation protection and to compare its effectiveness against classic lectures in Islamic Azad University, Tehran Dental branch.
Material and Methods: The study was exploratory in the first stage and a clinical trial in the second. Software was developed based on ADA guideline, using ScreenRecorder and MultimediaBuilder. 46 dental students who have never received any education on dental radiation protection were divided into control (N=22) and test (N=24) groups which have been matched based on the GPA and VARK test results. The test group used the software, while the control group attended a lecture. Students’ learning rates were evaluated by using 2 identical 10-question multichoice tests taken immediately and after two weeks. The results were analyzed in SPSS25 using the Mann-U-Whitney test, independent samples t-test, and Pearson's chi-squared test.
Results: Educational software was developed successfully. In both exams, the mean score in the test group was higher than that in the control group by a statistically significant difference (p<0.001). The mean scores of test group and control group were 8.91±1.31 and 6.13±1.67 in the first exam and 6.79±1.69 and 4.90±2.09 in the second one respectively.
Conclusion: Multimedia educational software can improve learning of principles and methods of dental radiation protection in dental students.
