Measuring Curricular Impact on Dental Hygiene Students' Transformative Learning.

Area of Science:

• Dental Hygiene Education
• Transformative Learning Theory
• E-Learning Pedagogy

Background:

• Active learning experiences are crucial for fostering transformative learning in higher education.
• Students in e-learning programs may experience significant personal growth beyond academic competence.
• Assessing transformative learning requires evaluating changes in confidence, pride, skills, worldview, and identity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate transformative learning experiences in an e-learning dental hygiene degree completion program.
• To identify and categorize student-reported changes using a Transformation Rubric for Engaged Learning.
• To determine the extent and nature of transformative changes experienced by dental hygiene students.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study analyzing focus group transcripts from five graduating cohorts.
• 30 out of 42 students (71%) participated in focus groups.
• Data categorized using the Transformation Rubric for Engaged Learning to identify transformative and non-transformative changes.

Main Results:

• All participants reported at least one change, averaging 8.3 changes per student.
• The vast majority (84%) of reported changes were classified as transformative.
• Middle-performing students demonstrated a disproportionately higher rate of transformative changes in confidence and pride.

Conclusions:

• The e-learning dental hygiene program had a significant transformative impact on students.
• Transformative learning occurred in areas including confidence, pride, skills, perceptions of the world, and personal identity.
• Further research is recommended to explore the specific impact on middle-performing students.