Abstract
Students in dental hygiene and other health professions vocations learn in a variety of settings including didactic, laboratory, and clinical. Due to the multiple staff members often needed to teach in the laboratory and clinical settings, calibration of these staff members should be considered. Although calibration is not always offered,1 faculty calibration creates a means for reducing inconsistency among instructors1,2 which leads to high-quality education to students.3 Many factors such as years of experience, background, and education contribute to inconsistencies in teaching where students have reported working to satisfy their attending faculty member on a given day rather than place focus on patient care.1,2
Methods of faculty calibration discussed in literature included avenues such as instructional technique videos,3self-instructional modules,2 and an online mode of delivery.4 Barriers to faculty calibration included subjective factors such as diverse backgrounds as well as differing preferences for mode of delivery.2 Efforts for faculty calibration in the dental clinic at the University of Southern Indiana continue to evolve based on faculty and student needs. The DTHY 342 or pre-clinic or lab course typically has approximately 6 different faculty members teaching the content throughout the week to the same cohort of students. This lab contains significant content beginning with safety and infection control which leads to specific aspects of patient care planning, treatment, and education.
Presentation Purpose & Takeaways:
Due to the amount of information presented in DTHY 342 and the multiple faculty members involved, a calibration system using daily binders and videos along with weekly correspondence by the course coordinator has been implemented and continues to evolve based on student and faculty needs. The purpose of this presentation is to share the evolution of this calibration system along with successes and areas under review.
References:
Dicke NL, Hodges KO, Rogo EJ, Hewett BJ. A survey of clinical faculty calibration in dental hygiene programs. J Dent Hyg. 2015;89(4):264-273. Accessed December 14, 2022.
Brame JL, AlGheithy DS, Platin E, Mitchell SH. Use of a self-instructional radiographic anatomy module for dental hygiene faculty calibration. J Dent Hyg. 2017;91(3):5-13. Accessed December 14, 2022.
Carter BB, Brame JL, Murrah V, Ahmed S. Faculty calibration with instructional videos for head and neck examinations. J Dent Hyg. 2017;91(5):70. Accessed December 14, 2022.
Woo DA. An innovative online approach to clinical faculty calibration. J Dent Educ. 2021;85(Suppl. 1):1059-1061.