Purpose: This study compared the success of dental students with flipped classroom and traditional classroom learning in the restorative dentistry course for the first time at the Faculty of Dentistry of Reims during the 2019- 2020 academic year, influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic, and analysed the correlation with students’ feelings. The use of an active learning method can improve success during final exams and increase the motivation of students.
Materials and Methods: The same teacher taught half of the restorative dentistry course in the flipped classroom approach and the other half as traditional classroom. For the flipped classroom, students were required to complete their homework online before the face-to-face sessions. An exam at the beginning and the end of the semester was conducted with questions about concepts learned with each learning method. Statistical analysis was performed using a t-test at the 0.05 significance level. A questionnaire on satisfaction was conducted to determine the students’ opinion on this new learning method in the flipped classroom compared to the traditional classroom.
Results: The flipped classroom learning method enabled students to achieve better results on the final exam, with a statistically significant difference compared to traditional classroom learning. Student responses to the satisfaction questionnaire showed an increase in motivation and interest in the lessons and correspond to the increase in exam success.
Conclusion: The use of the flipped classroom for lower cognitive-level activities is more appreciated by students and yields better results than knowledge acquisition in the traditional classroom.
Keywords: Covid-19, flipped classroom, lower cognitive level, restorative dentistry
