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AIMS To achieve consensus on learning outcomes and assessment among staff members within the postgraduate orthodontic programme in Cardiff. To highlight students' and mentors' attitudes to the introduction of a reflective e- portfolio used as a formative and summative assessment tool for reflective abilities, professionalism and learning outcomes in the postgraduate orthodontic programme in Cardiff METHODS A 2-round modified Delphi process was employed to achieve staff members' consensus with regards to the learning outcomes and assessment methods, which initially were defined according to the literature. A 2-stage evaluation research approach was chosen to study the implementation of the e-portfolio in the orthodontic training programme in Cardiff. The e-portfolio was piloted for two months and supervisors' and students' opinions on its content, format and impact on learning were collected from questionnaires. The possibility of using the e-portfolio as an assessment tool was identified by means of mentor interviews and student focus groups after piloting it for one academic year. RESULTS The staff members' consensus achieved in the Delphi process was 98.4% for the learning outcomes and assessment. From the analysis of the first pilot data, supervisors and students showed equal technical difficulties with the e-portfolio, but supervisors expressed more positive support of the e-portfolio as a learning experience compared with students who had more reservations. The second pilot underlined the students' and mentors' support for the use of the e-portfolio as a formative and summative assessment tool for students' reflective skills, professionalism and learning outcomes. CONCLUSION A modified Delphi technique facilitated the process of curriculum revision of the orthodontic specialist training programme in Cardiff. The use of the orthodontic e-portfolio as a learning and assessment tool might depend on changes in the structure of the portfolio, in the traditional system of assessment and in the thinking of the persons involved and responsible for its delivery.

The significance of curriculum in formal education is undisputable. In dental education, the curriculum has received renewed attention in the last 15 years as a means of addressing student educational needs and perceived inequalities in access to dental care. Based on a case study of the Welsh Dental School 2001 restructured undergraduate curriculum and the General Dental Council 2002 curriculum framework, this study explores factors informing contemporary dental curriculum. The findings from the study indicate that, although it is commonly claimed that the main driver of curriculum change is to facilitate and enhance the students' learning experience, dental educators are paying attention to the need for socially responsive dental education. However, although a number of curriculum models are available, they suffer from one deficiency: they tend to put emphasis on prevailing education thinking and neglect to situate the curriculum in its wider social context. The net result is production dental graduates who are scientifically informed and technically competent but socio-culturally insensitive. This thesis contributes toward a systematic and holistic approach to dental curriculum by developing a hybrid theoretical framework, which combines Bernstein's concepts of Collection and Integrated curriculum, Dreyfus and Dreyfus' Novice-Expert continuum and Bruner's Spiral curriculum. In addition, based on findings from the case study, the concept of 'total education and socio-cultural environment' (TESE) is introduced as an organising principle for systematically contextualising the curriculum in its wider socio- cultural environment. Taking Zambia as an example, the various elements of the TESE are identified and this forms the basis for developing a hybrid dental curriculum model. The model offers a systematic and comprehensive approaching curriculum planning. It also helps to moves curriculum planning from a narrowly conceived academic exercise to a socially responsive project.

With the increasing professionalisation of teaching within higher and professional education and calls for educational reforms, dental teachers and educators increasingly face challenges of changing roles and identities during a time of decline in clinical academic dentistry. The main purpose of this thesis is to explore dental teachers’ experiences of teaching and development as teachers from dental teachers’ perspectives. More particularly, the research explores the tensions that might arise among commitments to dental practice, research, and education, and the role these commitments play in shaping their professional identities and orientation. This study investigates issues that arose out of concern and interest about how dental teachers develop their educational identities in the context of a decline in clinical academic dentistry and increased dependence on part time dental practitioners. Central to this study is the question of “How do dental educators describe their professional identities in contemporary dental education?” This is a single-site case study that was conducted in a United Kingdom-based dental institute using a qualitative interview approach to explore dental teachers’ perceptions and experiences of their professional educational practices. Semi-structured interviews with dental teachers and educators from various backgrounds were conducted to explore their perceptions of their experiences of teaching and professional development in teaching. This study was a response to the need for an in-depth understanding of the complex professional identities of dental teachers and educators within this specific sociocultural context of current practice in higher education. The main findings were that for dental educators, their identity as teachers is secondary to their identities as clinicians or clinical academics. Their teaching practices are strongly shaped by their identities as professionals in a clinical role. For these and other reasons that are explored in this study, there are tensions evident in the development of educator identities amongst this group of professionals. This study helps to advance understanding of, and provide a framework for, dental teachers' professional development.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the study were to investigate the factors influencing the uptake of distance education courses by practising professional dentists in India, and also to explore the possibility of adopting distance education as a method for delivering continual professional development for dentistry [CPD] in India. STUDY DESIGN: The research was performed in three phases. The first phase consisted of a literature review and collection of data through a pilot questionnaire; the second and third phases consisted of data collection through questionnaires. The final data were collected from 201 Indian professional dentists using stratified random sampling using proportional allocations. RESULTS: The respondents' most important considerations while choosing a CPD course were topic, recognition by their respective Dental Council, Worldwide status of the course provider, and inclusion of a practical component. The results showed that age was the most significant predictor for dentists considering an online course. Dentists within the age group of 25-30 years were 4.92 times more likely to consider an online course when compared to their counterparts in the age group of <25 yrs., and around 73% of the 25-30 age group would consider enrolling in online courses. Academic extrinsic factors such as progressing up the academic ladder and social intrinsic factors such as contributing to society were also shown to be factors influencing the pursuit of CPD. Cost, duration of course, distance of travel, length of course, non-recognition of topics, and non-availability of practical courses acted as barriers to the up-take of CPD amongst the study participants. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that considering and accounting for the barriers identified, and adopting favourable measures which overcome these during the course design itself would result in higher preferences for such courses. More indepth research into these barriers and the factors driving them amongst learners is proposed. This would enable the adoption of distance education as a format to continue professional development in India.

Recent developments in European dental education are student-focused, concerned, for example, with competency-based and problem-based learning. The development of dental educators has so far received little consideration. This study aimed to agree curriculum content for developing dental educators so that they are better able to support changing undergraduate dental education. Adopting consensus methodology, a two-round Delphi was conducted in 2012. Fifty-three dental educators attending the Association of Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) annual conference 2010-2011 and 39 dental students attending the European Dental Students Association (EDSA) volunteered to take part. The Delphi questionnaire was developed based on literature, piloted, and sent to participants to gather opinions of and seek consensus on educational content using rating-scales and open-ended questions. Numeric data were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were analysed thematically. This study identified required educational content for undergraduate-teachers and practical issues for developing dental educators. This study revealed seven domains of curriculum content for dental educators. Four domains were deemed essential in which all educators should be competent:educational principles; educational practice in dentistry; curriculum, quality, and improvement; and educational professionalism. Three domains were optional which could be tailored to local needs include: educational principles in specific context, educational research, and educational and healthcare management. When developing training for dental educators, factors which need consideration are: scope and type of educational content; academic position and teaching experience of educators, roles and responsibilities of educators, the nature of undergraduate dental education, and local and cultural contexts. The results are beneficial for (1) individual educators to inform professional development plans, (2) institutions to devise faculty developments, (3) ADEE to inform policies on developing European dental educators, and (4) other disciplines to inform training for their educators.

Clinical reasoning is a skill required by all health professionals in managing patients. Research in clinical reasoning has come mostly from medicine and nursing, less from dentistry. The effect of curriculum on the development of clinical reasoning is still not well understood. Moreover, no research has been conducted to understand what clinical reasoning means to students and what educational strategies are valued by them. The aim of this research is to explore the effect of different educational strategies in different dental schools on clinical reasoning and to discover how students perceive clinical reasoning. Final year students from four different dental schools participated in the current research; a school using an integrated curriculum with conventional teaching, a school using Problem Based Learning (both from the UK) and two Saudi Arabian dental schools; a school using a traditional curriculum and a school using an integrated curriculum. Both UK schools participated in both studies, whereas each one of the Saudi Arabian schools participated in a different study. The research used both quantitative and qualitative methodology. An innovative clinical reasoning test measured final year students’ skills. An interview captured their own understanding of clinical reasoning and its acquisition plus they ‘talked through’ a clinical problem, using a ‘think aloud’ technique. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the transcripts of the recorded interviews. Results obtained were related to curriculum structure. The results indicated that the effect of curriculum structure, unlike teaching and assessment strategies, appeared to be minimal in final year students. Unfamiliarity with the term clinical reasoning was common in students. Students from different schools used different strategies to reason when discussing clinical vignettes. Different behaviours seemed to be affected by cultural factors. This research contributes to a greater understanding of how students learn, understand and apply dental clinical reasoning which hopefully will improve educational practices in the future.