Smilyanski Irina A, Boyd Linda D, Perry Kristeen R, Rothman Andrew T, Jenkins Susan
Ms. Smilyanski is Assistant Professor, Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene, MCPHS University; Dr. Boyd is Professor and Dean, Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene, MCPHS University; Ms. Perry is Assistant Professor, Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene, MCPHS University: Mr. Rothman is an adjunct faculty member, Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene, MCPHS University; and Ms. Jenkins is Associate Professor, Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene, MCPHS University.
J Dent Educ. 2015 Sep;79(9):1066-73.
The aim of this study was to examine the association between distance education (DE) and students' sense of classroom community (SCC) in U.S. dental hygiene programs. The concept of SCC is recognized to have an influence on students' educational outcomes. With the goal of increasing diversity among future dental professionals, there comes a need to accommodate students of various backgrounds through the use of DE. The impact of DE on students' SCC has not been studied in previous research. This 2014 cross-sectional survey study looked at a convenience sample of dental hygiene students finishing their first or second clinical year to assess their SCC. Participating programs had both host and satellite campuses and utilized DE for didactic course delivery at the remote sites. To calculate the students' sense of community, Rovai's Classroom Community Scale (CCS) was utilized, and demographic information was collected. Six of the 13 eligible programs agreed to participate; the overall response rate for individual students was 25%. When evaluated on their sense of community, the satellite college-based students scored 26.47 CCS units and 14.51 learning subscale units lower than the host college-based students. These results suggested a negative association between the students' sense of community and their affiliation with satellite campuses when controlled for demographic variables. The findings suggest a negative trend in the SCC for dental hygiene students on remote campuses and utilizing DE for a portion of their curriculum. This trend can potentially decrease students' educational success and satisfaction and should be addressed.
本研究的目的是探讨美国口腔卫生专业项目中远程教育（DE）与学生课堂社区感（SCC）之间的关联。课堂社区感这一概念被认为会对学生的教育成果产生影响。为了增加未来牙科专业人员的多样性，有必要通过远程教育来接纳不同背景的学生。以往研究尚未探讨远程教育对学生课堂社区感的影响。这项2014年的横断面调查研究以完成第一年或第二年临床课程的口腔卫生专业学生的便利样本为研究对象，以评估他们的课堂社区感。参与研究的项目既有主校区也有卫星校区，并在远程站点利用远程教育进行理论课程教学。为了计算学生的社区感，使用了罗瓦伊的课堂社区量表（CCS），并收集了人口统计学信息。13个符合条件的项目中有6个同意参与；学生个体的总体回复率为25%。在社区感方面进行评估时，卫星校区的学生在课堂社区量表上的得分比主校区的学生低26.47分，在学习子量表上的得分低14.51分。这些结果表明，在控制人口统计学变量后，学生的社区感与他们在卫星校区的归属之间存在负相关。研究结果表明，远程校区的口腔卫生专业学生在使用远程教育进行部分课程学习时，其课堂社区感呈消极趋势。这种趋势可能会降低学生的学业成就和满意度，应予以关注。
