Education in periodontology. A need for a new teaching model

The objectives of the present work were to elucidate faculty perceptions and effects on traditional teaching and the supplement of a problem-based learning model in periodontal education. Students and faculty members at one university were asked to respond to a battery of relevant questions in periodontology that had been previously discussed at two European academic workshops. Differences in responses were noticed both between faculty, students, and their responses as compared to responses given by participants at the European workshops. On several topics, faculty within the selected university held significantly different opinions. Thus lecture content and concepts may vary dependent on who gives the lecture and may not be consistent with the common interpretation of the scientific evidence. Responses given by those participating in the workshops indicated consensus. The study results suggest that students were able to extract appropriate conclusions from the scientific literature in the they were able to concede with an expert panel on specific issues studied. Students were however unable to convince other students, who had not participated in the specific activity, that their conclusions were consistent with the scientific evidence and different than what had been taught in class. In many cases, these conclusions differed from their previous perceptions obtained during traditional lectures. In conclusion, the present study suggests that problem-based learning activities should be introduced early in the curriculum to avoid bias in understanding which may occur when students have been previously exposed to information presented in standard lectures. The use of interactive teaching via internet is discussed.