Assessment of online pre‐laboratory quizzes in the instruction of oral histology

Web‐based technology has many attributes and is considered a useful tool for teaching outside the classroom due to its networking capability and broad accessibility. For many instructors web‐based technology serves as the mechanism for course delivery, while in other instances online activities may simply enhance traditional classroom instruction. Presently we utilize Blackboard, an integrated web‐based support system that enables students to access grades and course material online. Over the last two years we have increased the amount of online material in our Oral Histology course. While the course still utilizes light microscopy as the primary method of laboratory instruction we now have supplemented these teaching methods with online digital laboratories and pre‐laboratory quizzes. The implementation of online material was designed to promote self‐directed learning and facilitate structure identification during lab. Due to the format change we sought to evaluate the effectiveness of online lab material as a supplement to traditional teaching, and assess the outcome of administering pre‐laboratory quizzes on student performance. In the present study student performance was assessed over a two year period. In the first year, the course was taught to 67 dental students using traditional methods of laboratory instruction. In the second year, students with equivalent GPA and DAT scores were instructed using web‐based materials as a supplement to traditional methods and took a pre‐lab quiz. Both groups of students were evaluated using light‐microscopy based lab exams. There was no difference on student performance between students using traditional methods and students using web‐based material