Part III. Evaluation of time-consumption

Previous studies of the effects of computer-assisted instruction (CAl) in intraoral radiography have shown that students who were taught by this method produced radiographs of higher quality than those who received a traditional course. The present investigation revealed that this objective was reached in a shorter time. Although the mean time-consumption for the 54 students (22 males and 32 females) given CAl was 21/2hours compared with 4 hours of lectures, the time spent at the computer ranged widely between 3;4 and 53;4 hours. Female students required on average more time than males (p = 0.026) but there was no significant difference between males and females with respect to number of retakes required (p = 0.168); nor was there any relationship between time-consumption and the number ofretakes (p > 0.05). These results support the claim that the great advantage of CAl is that it is responsive to individual needs and pace. Computers were first used in teaching in the 1970s. These computers were highly expensive systems connected to a central processing facility. In the relatively few large centers where computers were introduced, teaching programs served as pilot projects into the effects of computer-assisted instruction (CAl). The few publications that have emerged from dental schools have indicated beneficial results (1,5,8). The programs developed were most often of the so-called 'drill and practice' kind aiming at low cognitive objectives (memorizing, understand­ ing). It has become clear that learning by programed self-instruction among other advan­ tages requires less time than traditional methods to reach equal teaching objectives (4, 6, 7, 9). The effects of more complex 'tutor dialogue' pro­ grams which aim at higher cognitive levels (eg. application) have received little attention in the past (5). With the development in recent years of low-cost microcomputers (personal computers), there has been a renaissance in CAl, and discussions of effects and applicability of different Table 1. Educational characteristics of the students program structures have started again among educational researchers. We have previously described the beneficial effects of computer-assisted programs for teaching dental students intraoral radiographic technique (19, 20). The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the time­ consumption of these programs and to assess the relationship between this parameter and the students' performance in an intraoral radio­ graphic survey.