Dental Education
Members
- Associate Professor Tracey Winning
- Professor Grant Townsend
- Adjunct Associate Professor Gerry Mullins
- Dr Toby Hughes
- Dr John Kaidonis
- Dr Dimitra Lekkas
- Dr Loretta Rupinskas
- Dr Vicki Skinner
- Ms Sophie Karanicolas
- Ms Catherine Snelling
Administration
- Ms Karen Squires
Research Goals
The research being undertaken by the Dental Education Research Group is focused on the investigation of students' experiences of Problem Based Learning (PBL) and supporting students' learning with particular relevance to their clinical experience and their clinical skills development. Two international collaborative studies are currently being undertaken. The first study relates to the students' experiences of PBL groups and is a cross-site study involving students in Adelaide and Dublin Dental School and Hospital. The second study is investigating students' understanding of and outcomes from PBL, with dental students from Adelaide Malmo University, Sweden, and dental and medical students from The University of Sydney. New areas of research have evolved over the past 2-3 years focusing on investigation of psychomotor skills development in dental students, the development of communication skills in student practitioners and the effectiveness of interactive learning technologies to enhance face-to-face teaching.
Current Research Projects
Australian Dental Research Foundation
- What defines expertise in operative technique skills in dentistry.
Recent Publications
Redwood C, Winning T, Lekkas D, Townsend GC. Improving clinical assessment: evaluating students’ ability to identify and apply clinical criteria. European Journal of Dental Education 2010;14:136-144.
Redwood C, Winning T, Townsend GC. The missing link: self-assessment and continuing professional development. Australian Dental Journal 2010;55:15-19.
Redwood CJ, Townsend GC. The dead centre of undergraduate life: the changing attitudes of dental students during dissection. Journal of Dental Education (In Press)
Townsend GC, Winning T. Research in PBL – where to from here for dentistry? Journal of Dental Education (In Press)
Karanicolas S, Winning T, Snelling C. Bringing down the silos to enhance student outcomes through interprofessional teaching. In: Research and Development in Higher Education: Reshaping Higher Education M.Devlin, J Nagy and A Lichtenberg (Eds) 2010;33:371-381.
Skinner V, Winning T, Braunack-Mayer A. Getting on with each other: PBL group dynamics and function. In: Researching Problem-based Learning in Clinical Education: The Next Generation. Bridges S, McGrath C, Whitehill T, Eds. Springer, 2011.
Winning T, Skinner V, Townsend GC, Kinnell A, Svensater G, Rohlin M, Davies J. The influence of two PBL curricular contexts on first-year students’ understandings of PBL, approaches to learning and outcomes. In: Researching Problem-based Learning in Clinical Education: The Next Generation. Bridges S, McGrath C, Whitehill T, Eds. Springer, 2011.
