Application of Social Media as a Supporting Tool in the Teaching and Learning Process of Dentistry Students

Overview

This study aims to explore dental students' perceptions of the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in supporting the teaching and learning process, particularly within the university setting. It seeks to identify gaps at the interface between information gathering, education, and ICT, providing valuable insights into students' awareness and acceptance of the content they access. The findings are expected to contribute to optimizing the use of ICT as an educational support tool, strengthening the curriculum, and preparing future dentists to better understand the interaction between ICT and teaching. Ultimately, this will help foster a generation of more qualified professionals.

The sample will consist of 90 undergraduate students from the School of Dentistry at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), aged 18 years or older, who are regularly enrolled in the Dental Radiology course. Recruitment will take place during the course sessions, through announcements made by the course instructors. The research team will only have access to participants' data after the student voluntarily makes contact and provides their information. All students who express interest and meet the inclusion criteria will be enrolled as volunteers. Participants will be fully informed about the objectives and procedures of the study and will sign the Informed Consent Form (ICF). Each volunteer will receive a confidential identification number, which will be linked to their responses and will allow the exclusion of their data should they choose to withdraw from the study. Withdrawal may occur at any time, without any harm or disadvantage. In case of withdrawal, the participant need only notify the principal investigator, and their data will be excluded, ensuring the anonymity of all volunteers. The results will not be presented individually, but only in aggregate form, without any identification of participants. All data collected will be accessible only to the principal investigator and the research team. After signing the ICF, participants will be randomly allocated, by drawing lots, into three experimental groups: Traditional Learning Group (n = 30): students undergoing the teaching-learning process without complementary content on social media; Passive Social Media Supplement Group (n = 30): students undergoing the teaching-learning process with complementary content on social media, consumed passively; Active Social Media Engagement Group (n = 30): students undergoing the teaching-learning process with complementary content through the production of audiovisual material, later shared on social media, representing active consumption. The social media platform used will be the one identified as most frequently accessed by the students in a prior survey. The complementary digital material will cover topics from the Dental Radiology curriculum, including: intraoral radiographic techniques, radiographic processing, intraoral radiographic anatomy, and dental and periodontal alterations and lesions. The content for G2 will be developed by students from G3, under the supervision of the course instructor and research team member (KLD). For G3, the materials will be produced and posted by the students themselves, after faculty review. At the end of the activities, students' performance will be assessed through the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), composed of five stations simulating clinical situations, with predetermined criteria and timing for each task. The competencies to be assessed will include: a) radiographic techniques; b) dental numbering notation; c) radiographic anatomy; d) radiographic interpretation of caries/restorations; and e) radiographic periodontal diagnosis. At no stage will individual results be disclosed to other students or to anyone outside the research team. All data will remain restricted to the principal investigator and the research team and will be presented only in aggregate and anonymized form.