PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Al-Thobity, Ahmad M.
AU  - Farooq, Imran
AU  - Khan, Soban Q.
TI  - Effect of software facilitated teaching on final grades of dental students in a dental morphology course
AID  - 10.15537/smj.2017.2.15627
DP  - 2017 Feb 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 192--195
VI  - 38
IP  - 2
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/38/2/192.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/38/2/192.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2017 Feb 01; 38
AB  - Objectives: To evaluate differences in students’ performance in a dental morphology course after the introduction of a 3D software-teaching program.Methods: This retrospective study took place at the College of Dentistry, University of Dammam, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from Augst 2013 to January 2016. The study included 3 groups of students taking the course during 3 different academic years: group 1, 2013-14 control; group 2, 2014-2015; and group 3, 2015-2016. The total sample size was 294 (n = 294; group 1 = 94; group 2 = 100; and group 3 = 100). Group 1 =students did not receive teaching facilitated by a software program, but groups 2 and 3 students were provided with the program’s CDs. The final examination grades of the students were statistically analyzed, retrospectivelyResults: The results demonstrated that the students who received software-facilitated teaching (groups 2 and 3) performed better than the students who did not receive it (group 1). Within the same year for groups 2 and 3, the number of students achieving good grades (>80%) was significantly higher than the students who achieved average grades (<79%), with p-values of 0.012 for group 2 and 0.009 for group 3.Conclusion: There is a positive correlation between the use of a teaching software program for students and their performance in final examinations. The addition of computer-based learning, as one of the teaching methods, could demonstrably boost students’ learning.