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Evaluation of Social Interaction, Task Management, and Trust Among Dental Hygiene Students in a Collaborative Learning Environment
Author(s) -
Saylor Catherine D.,
Keselyak Nancy T.,
SimmerBeck Melanie,
Tira Daniel
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1930-7837
pISSN - 0022-0337
DOI - 10.1002/j.0022-0337.2011.75.2.tb05035.x
Subject(s) - dental hygiene , psychology , medical education , teamwork , task (project management) , collaborative learning , mathematics education , medicine , engineering , systems engineering , political science , law
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of collaborative learning on the development of social interaction, task management, and trust in dental hygiene students. These three traits were assessed with the Teamwork Assessment Scale in two different learning environments (traditional lecture/lab and collaborative learning environment). A convenience sample of fifty‐six entry‐level dental hygiene students taking an introductory/preclinic course at two metropolitan area dental hygiene programs provided comparable experimental and control groups. Factor scores were computed for the three traits, and comparisons were conducted using the Ryan‐Einot‐Gabriel‐Welsh multiple comparison procedure among specific cell comparisons generated from a two‐factor repeated measures ANOVA. The results indicate that the collaborative learning environment influenced dental hygiene students positively regarding the traits of social interaction, task management, and trust. However, comparing dental hygiene students to undergraduate students overall indicates that dental hygiene students already possess somewhat higher levels of these traits. Future studies on active learning strategies should examine factors such as student achievement and explore other possible active learning methodologies.