Research supports active learning as an effective teaching method that promotes critical thinking, investigation and creativity. Based on constructivism, active learning theory enables learners to build upon prior knowledge and develop their own understanding of a topic. Today’s diverse learners seek educational environments where they can obtain knowledge and learn how to apply it through guided assignments. Join us for this webinar where Windy Rothmund, RDH, M.S.D.H., and Cheri Barton, RDH, M.S.D.H., both from Eastern Washington University, will demonstrate novel activities to engage allied health students and to foster deep, meaningful learning. During this webinar, participants will learn how to enhance student engagement through the application of active learning strategies.

Join us as we discuss how teledentistry can be used to collaboratively train dental hygiene and dental students in the principles of public health, caries risk assessment, prevention, treatment planning and intraprofessional collaboration. In this session, we will also discuss how teledentistry is being used to decrease barriers to preventive dental care for vulnerable and underserved populations, and how teledentistry can be used to help create dental homes.

Expert clinicians can sometimes struggle with teaching complex ideas to novice learners. The cognitive apprenticeship framework offers a host of strategies to help experts make their thinking more visible when engaging with learners. In this session, participants will learn about the components of the cognitive apprenticeship framework and the associated strategies that can support their teaching in classroom and clinic environments. Participants will work collaboratively to develop a plan that outlines how they can integrate the strategies effectively into their practice and evaluate the impact on learning.

Join us for this live webinar where Dr. Chaitanya Puranik will share how University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine implemented PBL in its Pediatric Dentistry Predoctoral Program. During this presentation, Dr. Puranik will discuss the blueprint of the implementation process as well as outcomes after the implementation. He’ll also explore the multiple strategies for evaluations, and the benefits to student progress and learning.

As members of the academic dentistry community, we are charged with creating and maintaining a humanistic environment and inclusive culture. Humanistic and inclusive environments are places where students, faculty, staff and patients feel they belong, and that they are welcomed, respected, heard and treated equitably. This webinar explores the importance of developing strategies to foster belonging as part of campus DEI initiatives. During the webinar, we will briefly describe the neuroscience of belonging and discuss how belonging is a critical factor in academic and professional success. We will also outline barriers to belonging and the consequences of not belonging, particularly for historically underrepresented and marginalized groups. Best practices, tips and resources for improving belongingness at dental schools and allied dental programs will also be examined.

Join us in this free webinar as we explore how major health crises of the past 800 years (leprosy, the Black Plague, Spanish Flu, COVID-19, etc.) have shaped health education. This presentation will explore those seminal moments in history and their lasting impact on how we teach and learn. The webinar will also engage with the audience to discuss how COVID-19 has impacted their educational lives and the lasting impact it may have on dental education.

​Join us for our next ADEA eLearn Webinar: The ADEA Climate Study: Advancing a Humanistic Environment and Transformation in Dental Education. This webinar provides an overview of the ADEA dental education-wide climate study that will take place in January/February 2022. Learn about the climate instrument focus areas, study benefits, reporting of results and how the data will be used to support humanistic and inclusive environments. Additionally, the speakers will share results from the 2019 ADEA climate feasibility study, which led to the current dental education-wide climate study. Representatives from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry will provide an overview of past climate studies at their institution and how the data have been used in strategic planning and to promote transformational change.

As recent events have shown, it’s important to be prepared for the unexpected and be willing to adapt to changing circumstances. Join us for this free webinar where we’ll discuss how University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston created an agile curriculum that engages students through critical thinking while providing instructors flexibility to make real-time changes to the course based on students’ needs. During this session, we’ll also discuss how multiple forms of technology are used to assess student interaction with course materials, and how this information is applied to make dynamic changes to the syllabus based on user feedback.

Does race play a role in dental school admissions? The dental admissions process serves as both boulders in the pathway to a dental career and an untapped resource for growing the profession. As a result, attention must be given to addressing how racism may impact the admissions process. Diversity, equity and inclusion are a part of every dental school’s institutional agenda. Pathway programs and scholarships have been used as tools to increase enrollment of underrepresented groups in dentistry. Yet, there is little evidence to suggest that these programs are successful or sustainable. In this presentation, we will review the results of a recent study that explored pathways to the dental profession for Black, Latinx and American Indian students and how pathway programs can lead to more equitable admissions processes.

This presentation will provide a detailed overview of the E-TDL and DA model along with live demonstrations of software tools used to facilitate the process. Additionally, we will provide evidence-based data to support the efficacy of E-TDL and DA in pediatric dentistry. The E-TDL and DA provides a paradigm shift in student assessment, which will be beneficial even in the post-pandemic period. The wider application of DA in dentistry will benefit preclinical education and pedagogical research in the future.