Designing and producing educational software for diagnosing malignant lesions in radiology of jaws and investigating its effect on the learning level of dentistry students

Abstract: Background and aim: Regarding to increasing concerns over the stochastic effects of ionizing x-ray radiation in dental radiography, effective education of dental students in this field is of prior importance. Studies have shown that educational softwares can enhance learning in many different fields of education. Therefore the aim of this study was to design and develop an educational multimedia software for principles and methods of dental radiation protection and to compare the effictveness of that software versus classic lectures regarding learning level of dental students of Islamic Azad University, Tehran Dental branch. Material & Methods: The study was exploratory in the first stage and a clinical trial in the second. In first stage, based on educational material from ADA guideline for dental radiation protection, multimedia software was developed, using of Screen Recorder and Multimedia Builder in Windows and Android versions. in second stage, 46 dental students who never before received any education on dental radiation protection were divided into two control (N=22) and test (N=24) groups. Two groups have been matched based on the GPA and VARK test results. The test group used the multimedia software, while the control group attended a lecture with the same educational content. After training, students learning were evaluated by using 2 identical 10-question multichoice test, immediately and after two weeks. Eventually, the results were analyzed in SPSS25 software. Data were analyzed using the Mann-U-Whitney test, independent samples t-test, and Pearson's chi-squared test. Results: Multimedia edunational software was developed successfully. In both exams, the mean of scores in the test group was higher than that in the control group and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Test group had an average score of 8.91 in first exam and 6.79 in the second. The mean scores of control group was 6.13 in first exam and 4.90 in the second. Conclusion: Multimedia educational software can improve learning of principles and methods of dental radiation protection in dental students