Edutainment in dental curriculum-A systematic review

Abstract

Background and objectives: Entertainment-education an emerging new concept has garnered light from many educators and researchers. The study expounds on incorporation of edutainment in dental curriculum, using animations, and games. The review is an expositor of the designs of educational tools devised, the advantages, limitations and students perception towards the unconventional pedagogy technique. Method: The database of sciencedirect, pubmed and google scholar was pursued for publications on games, animations and mime used in dental curriculum up to May 10, 2020. Results: The electronic and manual search showcased 73 titles with 39 full-texts, out of which 9 were clinical trials and are discussed in this review. Edutainment tools comprising of games (n = 5), animations (n = 3) and mime (n = 1) were utilized to explain the topics of nervous system, action potentials, dentin bonding, blood grouping, cranial nerves, drug interaction, periodontal health education, and cardiac cycle. Conclusion: The edutainment though a recent expedition, is highly promising when reinforced with classroom lectures. It is associated with improved understanding, enhanced student engagement and better test scores. The ease of availability, accessibility of such tools providing fun and amusement, is positively intercepted by the students and has an optimistic impact on teaching dental subjects.

Keywords

• Edutainment
• Pedagogy techniques
• Gamification
• Animation
• Dentistry