Dental students’ perceptions of the use of two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional vision in dental education using a three‐dimensional haptic simulator: A qualitative study
School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield
How they used Delve
Dental education researchers at the University of Sheffield used Delve to code four online focus groups with 21 BDS students who had trained on a haptic dental simulator, with two researchers coding independently and reconciling differences by discussion.
“Consistent with Braun and Clarke's approach, two researchers reviewed the transcripts carefully (S.N. and H.A.) Reading the data actively and repeatedly is an essential step at this stage to allow the researchers to become familiar with the content.29 Initial coding was performed using Delve (Twenty to Nine LLC 2021, New York, USA).”
- Field
- Dental education; virtual reality and haptic simulation training
- Data
- Four online focus group discussions with 21 second- and fourth-year BDS students (137 comments) following virtual reality operative tasks in 2D and 3D vision
- Approach
- Braun & Clarke thematic analysis; initial coding in Delve then largely deductive theme development from a predefined code set, performed independently by two researchers with differences resolved by discussion
- Data types
- Focus groups
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess the perceptions of novice and experienced undergraduate dental students of virtual learning with two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) vision. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This qualitative study involved 21 students from the second and fourth years of a 5-year BDS program. They first performed three operative tasks in virtual reality (VR) training sessions using both 2D and 3D vision. Subsequently, they participated in one of four online focus group discussions (FGDs). The FGDs were recorded and transcribed, and the data obtained from the transcriptions were coded and thematically analyzed. RESULTS: Three main themes emerged from the focus groups. With regard to their perceptions of 2D and 3D vision, most of the participants preferred 3D over 2D vision, mainly due to an improved ability to perceive depth. With regard to the theme of practicing 3D vision in the VR environment, some participants performed their tasks faster with 3D vision than with 2D vision, while others did not perceive any difference between them. Under the same main theme, some participants experienced headaches and eye fatigue with 3D vision. With regard to their perception of technical aspects, with 3D glasses, the participants experienced unpleasant sensations and saw darker images. CONCLUSION: All the participants placed greater value on practicing with 3D than with 2D vision in the VR environment. They believed that VR training should be used in the early years of dental education as an adjunct to the phantom head as it helps students acquire the skills needed by dental professionals.
Citation
Sarah Nassief, Huda Al Ali, Ashley Towers, James Field, Nicolás Martín (2024). Dental students’ perceptions of the use of two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional vision in dental education using a three‐dimensional haptic simulator: A qualitative study. Journal of Dental Education. https://doi.org/10.1002/jdd.13682