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University of Michigan Charts a Virtual Course in Pandemic-Era Instruction

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry, ranked the best dental school in the United States by Quacquarelli Symonds and the best in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities, moved quickly to launch remote teaching when the president of the university and the governor of the state both mandated shutdowns of all clinics and classes in March.

Virtual Lectures:

“The university said all teaching needed to be remote, and that was on Thursday or Friday. By Monday, we had to change, which was obviously a very short time to do that,” said Carlos González-Cabezas, DDS, MSD, PhD, associate dean for academic affairs and the Richard Christiansen Collegiate Professor of Oral and Craniofacial Global Initiatives.

The university immediately provided resources to help faculty develop online versions of their courses. For example, synchronous lectures happened online in real time so students could engage in questions and discussions, while asynchronous lectures were posted and archived so students could watch them on their own schedule.

Also, the university began training faculty in new methods for conducting secure yet accurate assessments of student performance. Many of these techniques involved moving away from traditional multiple choice questions and toward questions involving more critical thinking. Constant communication between faculty and the administration was key as well.

Hands-On Instruction:

These changes enabled the school to finish the remaining few weeks in its 2019-2020 academic year. As restrictions were lifted later in the spring, though, the school pivoted to bring back hands-on work in the preclinic with new infection control protocols.

“We were able to open the preclinic with half of the class at a time and using PPE (personal protective equipment),” González-Cabezas said. “Basically leaving an empty bench between the students, which meant that we had to double the number of sessions that we had to do. We had to extend the number of sessions to evenings and sometimes to Saturdays too.”

By July, things began to improve. The school expanded the number of clinical sessions and started doing rotations again. The PPE shortages got better. And while the clinics continued to use only about half of its chairs, it also began conducting airflow analysis to see how it could best prevent virus transmissions between chairs. And to fill in the gaps in clinical learning, the school ramped up its collaborative discussions too.

“We created clinical study clubs. We had faculty coaches with groups of about 12 students, and they started to meet regularly about three or four times per week to discuss actual patients, from diagnosis to treatment planning and interpretation of data, radiographs, and photographs,” González-Cabezas said.

Morale On Campus:

Yet González-Cabezas also noted that students seem to be more productive. There is a better student-to-faculty ratio, he said, with more one-on-one teaching. Students also are more focused because they know they can’t waste any time, he added. In fact, students can be found practicing between 7:30 and 11 pm, without much chit-chat between them.

“They’re just very focused. They’re down to business, because they know they have fewer chances,” González-Cabezas said.

As the state of Michigan moves into tougher lockdowns with the latest virus surge, though, the work remains difficult.

“The faculty can tell you they are tired. The increased number of sessions, and teaching remotely, is a challenge. It’s been already quite a few months, so people are getting tired. But it’s been an amazing, overwhelming response of support from both the faculty and the students,” he said.

“The students participate right now in all the decisions we make, how we make changes about these crazy schedules that we have. They’re all part of the decision making. We discuss how to do it better, how to do remote teaching better. They understand they are being partners with us, which has been really refreshing,” he said.

Looking Ahead:

González-Cabezas expects many of the changes that the school instituted to navigate the pandemic to remain once the crisis is over and things return to normal—or settle into a new normal.

“Some of the remote teaching will stay. I do think now we’re getting to a better place from a pedagogy perspective in the design of courses, syllabi, and learning goals than we were before because we were forced to look at these very carefully, and I think those things will stay,” he said.

Administrative routines will change as well. For example, in-person department meetings before the pandemic typically saw about 50% attendance. Since they’ve moved to a virtual format, attendance is now at least 75%, González-Cabezas said. Also, faculty who need to write grant proposals, papers, or similar work will be doing that work from home.

“People will feel more comfortable to stay at home than in the past,” he said.

Of course, González-Cabezas said, all of these changes were the result of a team effort and the work of his predecessor, Diane Hoelscher, DDS, MS, who managed the effects of the pandemic before he assumed his position on July 1.

“We responded very well for keeping safety as the primary goal and being able to carry out our mission, which was a very difficult balance,” he said. “And we’re still navigating that. The safety of our students, faculty, staff, and our patients is the number one priority. How to do that without stopping the school has been a challenge, but I think we’ve done reasonably well.”

(12/12/2020)
by University of Michigan

More Information: https://www.mybestdentists.com/dental-schools/UniversityofMichigan

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