Acquisition of psychomotor skills in dentistry: an experimental teaching method

Acquisition of psychomotor skills is one of the most important educational tasks in dental education; yet, there has been little systematic research in this area. This investigation compared a traditional method of teaching psychomotor skills with an experimental method. The investigation was conducted in a preclinical restorative dentistry laboratory course. Eighty-eight freshman students were randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 44) or control group (n = 44); instructors (n = 4) were randomly assigned to each group. The control group was taught using the traditional method used at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry at Chapel Hill; the experimental group was taught using a guided systematic approach that relied on detailed checklists and exhaustive faculty feedback. Dependent variables measured were quality of performance on laboratory practical examinations, time required to complete practical examinations, and time required to complete the course. Results suggest that this experimental approach has promise for psychomotor skill teaching and learning in dentistry.