Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the effects of smart-learning on the education of dental hygiene students. Methods: This study was conducted on 135 students in the dental hygiene department from a single university, with a pre-test implemented in order to verify the homogeneity of the experimental (smart-learning exposed) and control groups. Following each group’s lecture, we measured the study achievements of the students via a post-test, and their learning satisfaction through a questionnaire. An independent t-test was conducted to examine the homogeneity of the two groups and to compare both study achievements and learning satisfaction. Furthermore, a paired t-test was performed in order to compare the study achievements before and after lectures. Results: The average learning satisfaction level of the experimental group was 4.65±0.43, which was higher than that of the control group (4.46±0.54) (p<0.05). After comparing the study achievements of the groups, there was no statistically significant difference between them, both before and after lectures. Paired comparisons conducted on the overall study achievements showed that they significantly increased following lectures when compared to what they were beforehand, in both the smart-learning and control groups (p<0.001). Conclusions: Smart-learning can be expected to result in positive effects for dental hygiene education, and further structural studies on the various types of smart-learning are needed.
Figures & Tables
Table 1. Methodology timeline
