Innovative Teaching: Engaging Students with Virtual Case-Based Learning

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The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio (UTHSCSA) is a leading academic health center dedicated to excellence in academics, research, and clinical care. Dr. Moshtagh Farokhi, Professor of Comprehensive Dentistry and a faculty member since 2016, sought to enhance student engagement in her comprehensive lessons. Dr. Farokhi found creative ways to transform her teaching approach, including the integration of SoftChalk, a robust course authoring system, as part of a comprehensive strategy that significantly improved student interaction and learning outcomes.

The university is a leading academic health center with a mission to make lives better through excellence in academics, life-saving research, and comprehensive clinical care. It has six schools, a diverse workforce of 7,900, an annual expense budget of $1.23 billion, and a clinical practice providing 2.6 million patient visits annually. Playing a vital role in the fiscal health of the region, UTHSCSA is an important engine of growth for San Antonio’s local and state economy with a direct impact on the labor market, research, and development, as well as investment in the local market related to the expansion of services.

The Problem: Realizing the Need for More Engaging Learning Experiences

Dr. Moshtagh Farokhi, a dedicated and passionate Professor of Comprehensive Dentistry at UTHSCSA, has always strived for excellence in education. UTHSCSA, a world-class university that trains 3,500 dentists annually, consistently expects innovation from its faculty. Professors like Dr. Farokhi are committed to adopting new and effective learning strategies that enhance learner progress and educational outcomes.

Reflecting on her teaching practices, Dr. Farokhi recognized the need for a more engaging learning experience. Before utilizing SoftChalk’s solutions, she initially relied on PowerPoint presentations integrated with her notes and experiences. While this traditional method is common in academia, she found it insuffcient for fostering critical thinking and engagement among students. Some additional areas she found this method was lacking included:

The Paperwork version of the cases was completed briefly, increasing irrelevant socialization and decreasing critical thinking and problem-solving.
Students were not fully engaging with the slides despite tireless efforts to optimize the content in a more appealing way.

To address these issues, Dr. Farokhi searched for an alternative medium to better prepare her students for academic success. She hoped for a digital and forward-thinking solution that would be better received by her students.

Dr. Farokhi holds a Master of Public Health in Dentistry from the University of Glasgow School of Medicine in Scotland and a Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in the United States. She has served as a board member representative for the San Antonio District Dental Society. She is an active leader within the Academy of Dentistry International, an Honor Society for Science, Education and Global Oral Health.

The Solution: Discovering SoftChalk

After searching for an appropriate solution, Dr. Farokhi was introduced to SoftChalk through an educational specialist at UTHSCSA, Dr. Bonnie Taylor. The platform’s content-authoring capabilities and interactive activities ordered a promising solution to her challenges. Working with Dr. Taylor, Dr. Farokhi explored various features of SoftChalk, realizing its potential to advance teaching and learning. SoftChalk provided a user-friendly and quick-to-implement solution with over 30 activities designed to cater to different learning styles. This variety ensured that all learners stayed engaged and progressed in their learning. Dr. Farokhi began creating interactive patient case scenarios, moving away from traditional PowerPoint slides. As a busy professional, Dr. Farokhi appreciated SoftChalk’s intuitive design, which required minimal technical skills. Whenever she encountered an issue or needed guidance, SoftChalk’s support system was readily available to assist.

The Outcome: Transforming Teaching with SoftChalk

Implementing SoftChalk aided in transforming Dr. Farokhi’s teaching style. She incorporated various activities, such as fill-in-the-blanks, quizzes, and other assessments, to break up the content and enhance student engagement. Dr. Farokhi explored case-based study simulations to uniquely encourage content absorption for her learners. She initiated a successful case-based study around a typical dental school edentulous patient named Rosa. This approach allowed her to embed an entire lesson as case study content, including interactive questions, which were well received by the students. The first case was meticulously piloted with ten sophomore dental students at the UTHSCSA at San Antonio Dental School as part of their preclinical training, ensuring its effectiveness and relevance. Organized into five groups, the students spent an hour engaging with the case and asking questions. Afterward, they completed an open-ended evaluation.

The results were immediate and significant, including:

Students were able to navigate the case efficiently, with their questions
focusing on the embedded quiz elements.
Student responses to the evaluation indicated that the primary objectives
of the case-based tool had been met.
Students became more engaged and attentive, participating more actively
in class.
Feedback scores from students improved, reflecting their appreciation for
the new learning methods.

SoftChalk’s features also allowed Dr. Farokhi to monitor student progress more effectively. She used SoftChalk interactive quizzes and assessments to identify comprehension, detect possible barriers or challenges, and enhance future content delivery. SoftChalk’s ScoreCenter enabled her to track which students fully engaged with the lessons and which were merely doing the minimum to pass.

Dr. Farokhi shared “with the use of SoftChalk I have been able to make my teaching and learning process interactive and engaging while ordering relevant content delivery to dental students that could not be possible with the traditional approaches to teaching.” Dr. Farokhi’s case-based lessons were so impactful that her findings on her approaches were published in the Journal of Dental Education as an article titled Health Professions Learner’s Evaluation of e-learning scenario-based Case Study Design: Reinvigorating Flipped Classroom Modalities
(DOI:10.1002/jdd.13379).

Looking Ahead: A New Classroom Experience

For over 13 years, SoftChalk has allowed Dr. Farokhi to create a more dynamic and engaging learning environment, better preparing her students to become excellent dentists. She noted that SoftChalk not only helped improve her evaluations but also made her a more effective and engaging teacher. “I recommend using the SoftChalk platform for creative educators wanting to advance their teaching modalities.” Dr Farokhi said. “I hope I can inspire others to continue to grow as educators, implement simple but effective solutions such as SoftChalk, and advance their approaches to content delivery.” The ripple effect of her innovative approach continues to impact students and faculty. SoftChalk’s adaptability transcends disciplines, making it a powerful ally for educators seeking to bring their classrooms to life.

How you can use SoftChalk

Are you looking for a way to enhance your lesson authoring and delivery beyond traditional teaching methods? Do you struggle to keep students engaged or find it challenging to identify when they are not meeting expectations?

SoftChalk is an educational platform that allows professors to create web-based content integrating quizzes, activities, and other engagement opportunities. It is built around accessibility, meeting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, Levels A and AA, and is usable anywhere, whether in the classroom or on mobile devices.

SoftChalk can help your institution develop and deliver eLearning programs that keep learners engaged and improve student outcomes.