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Biomedical subjects

T Schleyer

Publications and source records attributed to T Schleyer.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Dental informatics. A cornerstone of dental practice.

BACKGROUND: Dental informatics is a relatively new field that has significant potential for supporting clinical care. Most dentists are unaware of what dental informatics is, what its goals are, what it has achieved and how they can get involved in it. METHODS: The authors conducted a literature review and several round-table discussions with dental informatics experts to discuss the preceding issues surrounding dental informatics. RESULTS: Dental informatics is the application of computer and information sciences to improve dental practice, research, education and management. Numerous applications that support clinical care, education and research have been developed. Dental informatics is beginning to exhibit the characteristics of a discipline: core literature, trained specialists and educational programs. CONCLUSIONS: Dental informatics presents possible solutions to many long-standing problems in dentistry, but it also faces significant obstacles and challenges. Its maturation will depend as much on the efforts of people as on the collective efforts of the profession. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Dental informatics will produce an increasing number of applications and tools for clinical practice. Dentists must keep up with these developments to make informed choices.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed2001

Developing a protocol for an educational software competition.

This project developed a protocol for the inaugural Instructional Software Competition of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). The evaluation instrument was derived from the Guidelines for the Design of Educational Software developed by the ANSI-accredited Standards Committee for Dental Informatics. Eleven judges were calibrated in a conference call and rated a total of 30 submissions using a 66-question instrument. The maximum score was 204 points. The mean score of WWW-based programs was 106.7 points, and of CD-ROM-based programs 109.5 points. The summative review of the judging process identified several potential improvements, such as distinguishing between standalone programs and educational support material; increasing the number of answer choices on rating scales; differential weighting of criteria; and a more discriminative approach to judging formative and summative evaluations. We plan to improve the protocol by supporting the process through a Web-based application; calibrating judges with an online handbook; improving and adapting the rating instrument itself; using at least three judges for each program; and conducting a measurement study.

American Dental Association↗
PubMed1999

Instructional characteristics of online continuing education courses.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the instructional characteristics of online continuing dental education courses on the World Wide Web. METHOD AND MATERIALS: One hundred fifty-seven online courses offered by 32 providers were reviewed for 34 criteria. RESULTS: Courses of various types spanned a variety of topics. Approximately half of all courses offered continuing dental education credit. The relationship between credit hours and course length was quite variable. Most courses consisted of text and images. Very few courses used advanced media such as video clips. Measured against an index of instructional quality developed for this study, the instructional quality of the courses, in general, was poor. Most for-credit courses contained self-assessment questions, but only 28% of courses scored the questions online. Basic information that was missing on many courses included the authors' names (29%); the intended audience (81%); goals and objectives (77%); and references (85%). In 47% of the courses, there was no opportunity to provide feedback to either the author or the provider. CONCLUSION: The theoretical advantages of Web-based continuing dental education are numerous, but the currently available online resources are mostly of unacceptable quality.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗
PubMed1999

Development of standards for the design of educational software. Standards Committee for Dental Informatics.

The ready availability of computers, combined with the advent of sophisticated software development tools, has resulted in a proliferation of dental instructional software. The quality of these products varies widely. Working Group 5 of the Standards Committee for Dental Informatics has published an initial set of guidelines to help course designers develop high-quality instructional materials. In the future, these guidelines will evolve into standards. This article summarizes the guidelines and considers future actions that may be taken once the standards are in place.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗
PubMed1998

Assessing outcomes of an academic computing initiative.

Academic computing initiatives rank high on the list of priorities of many dental schools. However, outcomes of academic computing initiatives have not been presented. The objectives of this program evaluation were to: 1) document a strategic initiative for academic computing over a five-year period; 2) assess outcomes; and 3) demonstrate how outcomes assessment changed strategic goals for the future. In 1992, Temple University School of Dentistry developed an academic computing plan. The plan proposed to develop the computer literacy of faculty, teach students the computer skills they need to be successful in their careers, and introduce computer-aided instruction as a new teaching tool. Before a new five-year plan was developed in 1997, the original plan's outcomes were summarily assessed. Assessment instruments included faculty and student surveys, budgets, inventory records, and utilization statistics. The school has reached two of three goals of the 1992 plan. Eighty percent of all full-time faculty have computers, are computer literate, and use computers for a variety of purposes. The school has implemented a comprehensive predoctoral dental informatics curriculum. However, the implementation of computer-aided instruction has not met expectations. Goals of the 1998-2003 plan include establishing an online learning infrastructure, improving student access, implementing computer-based oral health records, and further improving the computer literacy of faculty and students. Planning and supporting academic computing initiatives is a substantial challenge. Factors such as institutional culture, capital investment, ongoing support, and technological change influence plans and their success. While process and structure can be assessed relatively easily, measures for changed educational outcomes are still lacking.

Budgets↗
PubMed1994

The computer-based oral health record: an essential tool for cross-provider quality management.

A more efficient and detailed exchange of information between the various professionals who provide healthcare for an individual patient could have a strong positive impact on both quality assurance and patient health. This paper examines many of the issues relevant to cross-provider communication and quality assurance mechanisms in the computer-based oral health record.

American Dental Association↗