Development and Assessment of a Three-Dimensional Tooth Morphology Quiz for Dental Students

Tooth morphology has a pivotal role in the dental curriculum and provides one of the important foundations of clinical practice. To supplement tooth morphology teaching a three-dimensional (3D) quiz application (app) was developed. The 3D resource enables students to study tooth morphology actively by selecting teeth from an interactive quiz, modify their viewpoint and level of zoom. Additionally, students are able to rotate the tooth to obtain a 3D spatial understanding of the different surfaces of the tooth. A cross-over study was designed to allow comparison of students’ results after studying with the new application or traditionally with extracted/model teeth. Data show that the app provides an efficient learning tool and that students’ scores improve with usage (18% increase over three weeks, P < 0.001). Data also show that student assessment scores were correlated with scores obtained while using the app but were not influenced by the teaching modality initially accessed (r² = 0.175, P < 0.01). Comparison of the 2016 and 2017 class performance shows that the class that had access to the app performed significantly better on their final tooth morphology assessment (68.0% ±15.0 vs. 75.3% ±13.4, P < 0.01). Furthermore, students reported that the 3D application was intuitive, provided useful feedback, presented the key features of the teeth, and assisted in learning tooth morphology. The 3D tooth morphology app thus provides students with a useful adjunct teaching tool for learning dental anatomy. Anat Sci Educ 00: 000–000. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.     

Flipping the Script: When Service-Learning Recipients Become Service-Learning Givers

Urban education is a complex system that is often shrouded in stereotypes, labels, and barriers. Service-learning is well-entrenched in suburban institutions, but is a fledgling or grassroots organization in the urban education community. Often, suburban service-learning initiatives have taken the tone of community service in that it is often directed (albeit often inadvertently) at lower socio-economic families (e.g., to help the homeless, fill the food banks for the hungry, participate in clothing drives). Such initiatives leave some urban students feeling disenfranchised, powerless, and dependent. However, critical service-learning in urban schools can provide a connection to the community, as well as a sense of empowerment, confidence, and intrinsic motivation (Mitchell, 2007 Mitchell, T. (2007). Critical service-learning as social justice education: A case study of the citizen scholars program. Equity & Excellence in Education, 40, 101–112.[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). When urban students see themselves as vital, powerful participants in giving back instead of being given to, they become critical partners, young leaders, and civically engaged citizens. Therefore, in this article, Pam, a middle school educator, and Tamara, a service-learning partner, examine how a teacher can institute critical service-learning programs in an urban classroom. By highlighting a teacher's intrinsic and extrinsic shifts, practical applications, and students' collaborations and reflections, this article illustrates how to move to critical service-learning in urban contexts. This examination has implications for how specific critical service-learning components can help teachers work with students to move toward socio-emotional growth.     

Challenges of ‘thinking differently’ with rhizoanalytic approaches: a reflexive account

Growing numbers of educational researchers are using rhizoanalytic approaches based on the work of Deleuze and Guattari to think differently in their research practices. However, as those engaging in debates about post-qualitative research suggest, thinking differently is not without its challenges. This paper uses three complex challenges encountered in the author's doctoral research – concerned with the early childhood education workforce – to reflexively explore some of the implications of thinking differently with rhizoanalytic approaches. In particular, the author discusses ways of making correctives to: repetition and thinking differently, ways that subjects are produced as-and-in-assemblages, and, immanent ethics. The paper concludes with some possible implications of these challenges and correctives for research practices, and for debates about post-qualitative research.     

Technical and tactical skills related to performance levels in tennis: A systematic review

The aim of this systematic review is to provide an overview of outcome measures and instruments identified in the literature for examining technical and tactical skills in tennis related to performance levels. Such instruments can be used to identify talent or the specific skill development training needs of particular players. Searches for this review were conducted using the PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycInfo databases. Out of 733 publications identified through these searches, 40 articles were considered relevant and included in this study. They were divided into three categories: (1) technical skills, (2) tactical skills and (3) integrated technical and tactical skills. There was strong evidence that technical skills (ball velocity and to a lesser extent ball accuracy) and tactical skills (decision making, anticipation, tactical knowledge and visual search strategies) differed among players according to their performance levels. However, integrated measurement of these skills is required, because winning a point largely hinges on a tactical decision to perform a particular stroke (i.e., technical execution). Therefore, future research should focus on examining the relationship between these skills and tennis performance and on the development of integrated methods for measuring these skills.     

Daily steps in midlife and older adults: relationship with demographic, self-rated health, and self-reported physical activity

The relationship between average daily step counts and age, body mass index (BMI), self-reported physical activity (PA) level, and perceived health was determined in 85 middle-aged and older adults who wore a pedometer for 7 consecutive days. Average daily steps were significantly (p < .05) correlated with BMI (r = -.26), age (r = -.44) and perceived health (r = .53) but not with self-reported PA level (r = .19). The adjusted percentage of participants classified as meeting the PA recommendation in < or = 5,000, 5,001-9,999, and > or = 10,000 steps/day categories ranged from 53 to 61%. These findings support previous evidence in younger populations suggesting that the recommended minimal level of health-related PA may be achieved despite not accumulating 10,000 steps/day.     

Educational videos from a film theory perspective: Relating teacher aims to video characteristics

Teachers are increasingly using video in their lessons, with various aims (eg, to raise students’ levels of conceptual knowledge or interest). Videos that can be used for educational purposes are numerous, ranging from instruction videos to fiction films. Such videos have different characteristics, for example regarding the amount and structure of information, and the audio-visual presentation. However, guidelines on which video characteristics can help to achieve specific teacher aims are lacking. As a first step towards composing such guidelines, we added a film theory perspective to educational research on videos. The study included seven science teachers, 13 videos, and 233 students (aged 13–18 years). We used teacher interviews, video analyses, student questionnaires and a cross-case analysis connecting all the data. Data analysis followed a grounded theory approach, including open and axial coding to structure the data, and the constant comparative method to interconnect them. The results showed that videos that posed questions were associated with an increase in students’ interest, and that highly informative videos with authoritative speakers were associated with an increase in students self-reported conceptual knowledge gains. Moreover, teachers often did not have explicit aims for using a particular video, and they selected and used videos in their lessons intuitively. Stimulating teachers to use videos in a more aim oriented way may make video usage more effective. From these findings, we developed a framework to assist teachers in selecting or making videos that match their aims, and a model of possible connections between teacher aims and film types as a first step towards guidelines for teachers using educational videos.     

Leading Deep Conversations in Collaborative Inquiry Groups

Collaborative inquiry groups, such as professional learning communities and lesson study groups, are proliferating in schools across the United States. In whatever form, the potential for impacting student learning through this collaborative work is expanded or limited by the nature of teachers’ conversations. Polite, congenial conversations remain superficially focused on sharing stories of practice, whereas collegial dialogue probes more deeply into teaching and learning. Examples of talk taken from collaborative teacher inquiry groups are used to illustrate these important differences. Specific recommendations are provided, including the role that teacher leaders can play in adopting and modeling specific strategies that support the use of more substantive professional conversation.