Teaching Statistics in the Dental School Environment: Challenges and Strategies

• Activity Number: 495
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 3, 2011 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Teaching of Statistics in the Health Sciences
• Author(s): Deborah V. Dawson*+
• Companies: University of Iowa
• Keywords: statistical education ; dental education ; graduate education ; dentistry

Abstract

Statistical education in the dental school environment must reach varied constituencies, including predoctoral students, residents, graduate students, and faculty. This challenge is complicated by the pressures of a crowded curriculum and the multiple demands made of practitioners in academic dentistry. A critical overarching goal is producing informed consumers of the dental literature, particularly in terms of quantitative literacy. It is also vital that individuals from all of these groups learn how to interact profitably with statisticians in the context of research planning and proposal development, through to the analysis and presentation stages. In addition to formal didactic coursework in statistics and research design, strategies in attaining these goals include integration of statisticians into the predoctoral curriculum in critical thinking and both predoctoral and graduate research programs. Participation in junior faculty development programs and collegiate research seminars, including both general presentations and invited workshops, are used to address faculty needs. Similarly varied approaches are taken to evaluation, including audience response technology.