Learning Effect of Active Learning by Team-Based Learning (TBL)

Abstract

 Abstract Active learning leads to a deeper understanding and cultivates practical abilities compared to listening to lectures one-sidedly. In The Nippon Dental University School of life Dentistry at Niigata, active learning by Team-Based Learning (TBL) is performed in the dentistry symptomatology practice of third-year students. A questionnaire survey was performed after the TBL and the results were evaluated. The subjects were the third-year students of our university (68 students in 2024). The TBL was composed of individual study before the exercise, iRAT (individual RAT), tRAT (team RAT), exercise, post-learning, and peer-review. The subjects of the TBL were odontogenic infection, caries of children, ingestion/swallowing difficulty, malocclusion, and so forth. The questionnaire survey was administered on the last day of the TBL to assess the following items : 1) Whether the student had prepared their lessons positively or not, 2) Whether the student had performed group learning positively or not, 3) Whether the student had conveyed feedback equitably or not, 4) Whether the student had performed post-learning positively or not, 5) Whether the dentistry symptomatology practice was meaningful or not, and 6) Free writing. Word cloud analysis was carried out for the free writing. The results showed that over 70％ of students answered “Yes” for items 2, 3, and 5. Word cloud analysis picked up words that appeared frequently : “discuss,” “medical practice,” “contribute jointly,” and “learn.” These results suggested that the TBL helped to improve communication skills and motivation by perceiving the meaning of group learning or importance of communication.