Comparison between two asynchronous teaching methods in an undergraduate dental course: a pilot study

BACKGROUND: Properly designed and implemented eLearning can lead to improvement of dental teaching quality. Various strategies have been proposed to increase the effectiveness of eLearning in dental education, however, there is a lack of research to assess the effectiveness of these strategies. OBJECTIVE: To investigate dental students’ learning performance and perception of a virtual flipped learning format compared to a virtual traditional learning method. METHODS: A crossover pilot study was conducted at the College of Dentistry, Princes Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Computer-generated randomization, blinded from researchers who analyzed the results, was performed to allocate 32 participants (aged 23.27 ± 0.86 years) to one of two groups. Participants in the control group were taught through the virtual traditional learning method (VTL) using live video lectures. In contrast, participants in the intervention group were taught through the virtual flipped learning method (VFL) using recorded online lectures and post-lecture virtual discussions. Learning gain and preference were measured by pre- and post-test average score differences and a modified validated survey, respectively. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in learning performance between VFL and VTL groups (P > 0.05). However, students preferred VFL over VTL and the differences were significant among all survey items, except for the opportunity to ask questions. CONCLUSION: Health professions educators are encouraged to carefully design online curricula with efficient learning strategies that help students improve learning performance and foster self-directed learning skills while valuing active learning in an online environment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT04692142, 31/12/2020. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-022-03557-7.