Learning by teaching in Dental Informatics: an explorative study

An intriguing educational approach, learning by teaching, was applied in the course of Dental Informatics. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect that teaching expectancy (preparation to teach) and actually teaching have on skills and knowledge that students are expected to acquire during the course. In order to assess the applicability of this method to various forms of educational materials, students were asked to prepare and present educational objects that would be part of the current semester's curriculum. These were short lectures, computer laboratory exercises and virtual patient cases. The instructors evaluated their content and presentation fulfillment. Focus group sessions were held so as to capture the students' perception of the pedagogic technique. The results indicate that learning by teaching can enhance the quality of knowledge in Dental Informatics and increase computer, research, communication and cognitive skills of the involved students.