Perceptions of students regarding influential factors in delivering didactic dental lectures

A challenge faced by numerous educators, particularly those who are young and less experienced, is ensuring effective student learning during didactic dental lectures. The lecture stands as a defining feature of university education, while also being one of its most commonly scrutinized aspects. This study aimed to investigate dental students’ attitudes concerning factors that may influence the effectiveness of didactic dental lectures.

This cross-sectional study was carried out involving 280 dental students at a Dental College in Tamil Nadu. The study was carried out over 3 months. The study was conducted using a pretested questionnaire-based assessment. The students participated in the process voluntarily, and the questionnaire was designed to be anonymous, not requiring any names. The initial section gathered the participant’s personal details and educational history. The second part consisted of 45 multiple-choice questions focused on the effective factors influencing the teaching of didactic dental courses in classroom settings. Each question has been calculated with three choice scales: (1) Agree, (2) Neutral (3) Disagree.

The response rate was 100%. 83.2% (n = 233) of respondents were females and 16.7% (n = 47) were males. Table 1 gives the overall attitude of the students towards didactic lectures. The majority of the students (61.4%) had an average attitude towards effective lecturing in didactic dental lectures. There was no significant difference in attitude among the different years.

In conclusion, the overall attitude of dental students towards the teaching faculty delivering didactic lectures was positive; however, it is essential to implement continuous monitoring of both faculty and student performance through regular assessments. Lecture-based learning, while inherently passive, can be enhanced through the implementation of interactive teaching modalities.