Use of the Blackboard online learning environment for
collaborative, self-directed projects
David DymockSenior Lecturer in Oral Microbiology
Chairman, Dental Education Committee
Plan of talk
• The ‘old’ BDS curriculum– Special study elements
• Library projects• Online projects
• The ‘new’ BDS curriculum– Research concepts,
methodologies and project
Structure of the ‘old’ Bristol BDS programme Year 1 2 3 4 5 Weeks 30 30 42 42 42
Introductory fortnight Oral anatomy, biochemistry, physiology Human disease Oral
disease
Basic Medical Pathology & (O med,path,micro,rad)
Sciences Microbiology (OMFS) Anatomy Pharmacology
Biochemistry
Physiology Biomaterials Science
Basic Dental Techniques Advanced
Elective
Dentist in society
Law & ethics Dental pub health, health/society
BLS ILS
Introduction to Clinical dentistry
Individual clinical teaching logbooks
Topic teachingTopic teaching
Clinical Practice in teaching divisions *:CDH, Restorative, OMFS & Oral Med,Path & Micro
Credit Diploma BMSc BDS
Continuum
of
Dental
Education
Didactic teaching – teaching divisions *
outreachoutreach
A & EA & E
2nd BDS 3rd BDS Final BDS I Final BDS II
Continuous assessment
Special Study Elements
ElectiveElective
Special Study Element choices
• Modern Language– Spanish– French – Italian– German
• British Sign Language• Project
– Laboratory– Library– Blackboard online projects
Library projects
Using Blackboard
Online assessment
Feedback Timetables
Reading
Storing information, pro-formas, etc
Presentations
Communication
WWW links
Constructing online projects • Utilise Blackboard facilities to ‘run’ the project
– Self-explanatory structure within bespoke project sites
– E-mail– WWW links– Discussion board– Digital dropbox– Feedback
• Require 3-6 students– Encourage both independent study and teamwork– Each individual benefits from efforts of others in
the project group
• Offer different topics– Dental plaque (DD)– Oral cancer (Angela Hague)
Disclosed
Microbiology and dentistry
Dental plaque can lead to disease
Caries
Health Gingivitis
Periodontitis
Learning about dental plaque in the BDS programme
• Year 1– General Biochemistry
• Year 2– Oral Biology
• Years 3-5– Clinically-orientated teaching units
Marketing the project• Presented at Year 2 introductory lectures• Registered all students before SSE
choices made• Provided detailed information within site
Project tasks
1. Each student to read and review a paper relating to dental plaque on a fortnightly basis
2. Submit reviews to discussion board and digital dropbox
3. Read and comment on reviews by others• Repeat tasks 1, 2 & 3 six times 4. Provide a PowerPoint presentation to the
group• Assistance provided through the site
The Discussion Board
• Review submission• Communication
– Asking and answering questions
– Making comments– Providing links to relevant
documents/internet links
• Filing cabinet
Completing the project• 2004-05
– 3 students– 18 papers reviewed– 3 oral presentations– 3 reports– 2 merits, 1 pass– Feedback obtained
• 2005-06– 4/5 students completed– 27 papers reviewed– 4 oral presentations provided– 1 distinction, 3 merits– Feedback obtained
What did you feel were the benefits of choosing the Dental Plaque
Project? • Student 1
• I flet more responsable for the ammount of work I did. Rather than being forced to hand work in (lots of 2nd & 3rdBDS felt like being at school again), you worked because you had an interest in the subject and were pretty much left to get on with it.
• Constant use of athens and pubmed trained us how to get the best out of these resources, therefore aiding other projects I have done since.
• Student 2• Not only was the project
interesting with the oppurtunity to explore areas of personal interest in the particular area, it also benefited us all in the oral biochemistry element of 3rdBDS. The discussion board was used well and was noted by all as being a very valuble tool for the future. Also it was of enormous beefit to gain experience using online journals. This made the oral physiology library project research finding really straight forward.
What did you feel were the benefits of choosing the Dental Plaque
Project? • Student 3• The freedom to choose the
subjects to read up on made this unit unique to the rest of the course, it allowed me to read up on subjects that I was interested in. The main benifit to me was at the end of it I could read and summerise papers,and this has already helped with other subjects.
• Student 4• really useful to learn how to
search on the multiple databases, very useful for the phys lib project later in the 2nd year.
• Student 4 (ctd)• also learned how ot be critical
about information of papers...in essence thinking a little about whay was written,. not just accepting it as gospel.
• o and i widened my base of awareness of dental plaque..will be useful in coming years im sure
• i was able to get on with research and writing on my own, i didnt need to go to a class room at such and such a time. i like this independence. the deadlines were there so i worked to them at my own pace.
What did you feel were the possible disadvantages of choosing this
project? • The other subjects for SSE allowed the students to get away
from dentistry which could be seen as a refreshing break. • One could not have the oppurtunity to explore a new subject
such as sign language. I haven't had the oppurtunity to do this before and it would have been interesting.
• i didnt think there were any
To what extent did the project improve written skills?
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
Not improved Onlymarginallyimproved
A goodchance toimprove
An excellentway to
improve
2004-05
2005-06
To what extent do you think the project serves to improve oral communication skills?
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
Not improved Only marginallyimproved
A good chanceto improve
An excellentway to improve
2004-05
2005-06
To what extent the project help develop skills in using computer software and searching for relevant material?
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
Nothing gained I learned a fewthings that might use
in future
I learned a lot
2004-05
2005-06
Feedback – improving transferable skills
How did you find the work load?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Too little About right A bit too much Too much
2004-05
2005-06
How well did the project facilitate learning related to the Dental Course?
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
Not really that wellintegrated
Didn't integrate thatwell
Linked well toaspects
2004-05
2005-06
Feedback – workload, BDS linkage
Did you feel that the assessment of the project and marking scheme used
reflected the work put into the various components?
• Pretty spot on in my opinion
• I would have prefered a little more weight towards the presentation (including the acual delivery). Other than that distrubution of marks seemed fine
• I found it difficult to find something intelligent to say about each of the other peoples papers and I dont think it reflected the time spent reading them but it was worth while.
• the comments on the disscusion board were to highly weighted and the presentation too lightly weighted.
Did the Blackboard site give you the information you required to successfully complete your work for the project? If
not, please provide suggestions for change.
• yes it did
• The only problems that I encounted through the project were:– My own time management (my fault)
– Nasty journals wanting $30 for a paper.
– I dont think that these could be solved so no.
• yes it did
• it was fine, and the links were very useful
What did you think of the help and instruction given by the lecturer? Were there specific areas
where more assistance or advice would have been beneficial? How useful were the group
meetings? • meeting were useful as they were only really to see how we
were gettinh along and to jolt us into doing a bit more work here and there. help and advice given was helpful.
• Group meeting were of good use. Made sure we were all singing off the same hymn sheet and they addressed any problems we had.
• The few group meetings we had were helpful but were short so walking in for them and nothing else on occasions were inconvenient.
• Dr Dymock watched over the project offered advice and suggestions when needed. But pretty much left us to get on with it. I think we all appreciated this approach. If there are other ways of getting papers for free that would have been useful.
If you have any other comments on the Dental Plaque project or possible future use of
Blackboard for similar literature-based and discussion board-reported projects on a wider
range of dentistry-related topics please provide them below.
• I think this project was really useful to dentists (a lot more than being able ask for shoes in german) and was the best choice for the open unit. I gained a lot from it and think is a very good idea. Thank you for the help
• nothing to say except ot should be done again....i cant see why is wouldnt be useful to have a small thing like this running through the whole 5 years. this would get students into the habbit of finding out about changes in dentistry and increase their knowledge of dentistry holisticaly. i would like something like that.
Pros and cons of Bbd online projects
• Pros• 21st century
approach• Monitoring progress• Transferable skills• Independent study• Individuals benefit
from group effort• Feedback is
positive• Plagiarism
detection
• Cons• Set-up• Marketing
essential• Not every article
available electronically
• Sufficient numbers required
Reviewing the curriculum
• Reviewed 2005• Pressure on year 2
– Students want earlier patient contact
• Electives– Safety considerations?– Educational value?
• GDC First Five Years • Validated spring 2006• Implemented autumn 2006
Popularity of SSE options since 2001-02
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Spanish French Italian German BSL Project
No
s. o
f st
ud
ents
2001/02
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
Teaching hours Year 2 BDS 2004-05
0 50 100 150 200
Path. and Micro.
Pharmacology
Health and Soc.
Dent. Materials
Oral Biology
Op. Tech.
SSEs
BLS sessions
No. of hours
ML - 48 hoursBSL - 60 hours
The First Five YearsTHE CONTINUITY OF DENTAL EDUCATION12. The primary dental degree or diploma represents
only the first stage in an educational continuum which should last throughout a dentist’s practising life. Graduation is usually followed at an early stage by a period of vocational training which under current proposals may evolve into a two-year period of general professional training. Some dentists may then choose to undertake a period of specialist training. Beyond these formal educational arrangements, the dentist will be required to undertake a minimum amount of continuing professional development as a condition of maintaining registration with the GDC. The curriculum must prepare students to undertake self-directed learning throughout their professional lives.
The First Five Years
THE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT 31. The university will also provide library facilities
and information technology resources. These should be sufficient to enable all dental students to undertake guided self-learning. Formal instruction should be given in the use of personal learning techniques, such as computer-assisted learning, with emphasis on the developing area of health informatics.
The First Five Years
ELECTIVE STUDIES108. It is desirable, though not essential, for dental
students to visit other dental schools or dental clinical centres, either in the United Kingdom or abroad, during the period of clinical study. The main objective should be to broaden the undergraduates‘ education by exploring the dental problems and dental management systems in another context. As far as possible, curricula should be designed to facilitate opportunities for elective studies. Elective visits might be arranged around a project consisting of either audit or research, and the results should be presented on return by students in written form or verbally before an audience.
Bristol BDS programme structure from 2006 Year 1 2 3 4 5 Weeks 30 38 42 42 42
Introductory fortnight
Basic Medical Pathology &
Sciences Microbiology
Anatomy Pharmacology
Biochemistry Social dentistry
Physiology Biomaterials Science
BLS ILS Basic Dental Techniques Advanced Clinical Foundation Elements
Dental assisting
Disability & special needs
Clinician-patient interface Anxiety and pain control
and conscious sedation
Periodontology
Radiation protection
Research concepts, methodologies and project Research Project
Record of achievement – reflective portfolio – personal and professional development
SymposiaSymposiaBasic & clinicalBasic & clinical
sciencessciences
Clinical Practice & OutreachIntegrated adult and child dental care
Credit Diploma BMSc BDS
Continuum
of
Dental
Education
A & EA & E
Didactic teaching – teaching divisions - integrated
Continuous Assessment Yr1 Yr Yr3 Yr4 Final BDS
Human disease
Oral disease
Oral Biology
Research concepts, methodologies and project (Year
2)• Lecture course
– History and Philosophy of Science– Evidence-Based Medicine/Dentistry– Epidemiology– Questionnaire Design– Data analysis and Presentation– Qualitative Research– Writing a Protocol– Ethics– Statistics– Clinical trials in dentistry– Dissemination of data
• Dental research symposium
Research concepts, methodologies and project
(Years 3 & 4)• Project preparation through Blackboard-based
site– Compulsory for all students– Literature searching, reviewing, reporting, discussing
• Termly rotations of topics• Choice of topics based on academic interests of staff• Discussion board-based group work• Team-working towards projects
– Database of approved centres for projects (UK/abroad)
• Project– Group decisions on topics– Individuals contribute to totality– Peer marking
Acknowledgements
• Angela Hague• Learning Technology Support
Service – Julian Cook, Andy Ramsden
• Centre for Medical Education– Jane Williams, Dominic Alder
• Lis Jones