Comparing the effectiveness of the mini-lecture technique to role-playing in a dental psychology course

The array of instructional methods utilized in teaching behavioral sciences to dental students has included both teacher-centered and student-centered approaches. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two small-group treatments, mini-lecture and role-playing, in teaching dental psychology. Freshman dental students were randomly assigned to 12 groups. Groups were then assigned to one of six dentist-pyschologist teaching teams so that each team taught one mini-lecture and one role-playing group. Teaching teams taught seven sessions in which each mini-lecture/role-playing pair of groups received parallel subject matter. Following instruction, two outcome measures were administered: (1) an achievement post-test measuring factual recall, and (2) a measure of facilitative communication. Results indicated that mini-lectures were more effective than role-playing in effecting student mastery of factual information. There were no significant differences between the instructional treatments in teaching facilitative communication skills.