I set aside some time this week to brainstorm and incubate my professional problem for design. A colleague and I spent 40 minutes brainstorming my design problem, which is that students are unable to grasp concepts of dental abnormalities, resulting in poor performance on their charting quiz and final exam. It took us a moment to focus our thinking and begin, but then we were able to fire our ideas and thoughts. In summary, we realized that the root of the issue is that students are not retaining information of tooth anatomy or understanding normals, so they are less likely to comprehend abnormals and chart correctly. Once we determined the root causes leading to poor performance it was easier to define why they didn’t retain information in these areas and how I might be able to help them do so. This information can all be seen in our brainstorming web (below).
I had only thought of one potential solution, that of presenting charting questions in a different format, prior to this brainstorming exercise. I’m thrilled that we were able to talk out a handful of others as well. The aha moment for me was the need to include snapshots of normals in my lectures. I currently include pictures of entire halves of mouths, illustrating all four types of teeth (incisors, canines, premolars, and molars). Including snapshots of a tooth or two will force students to appreciate the structural differences between tooth types and to better recognize the tooth they’re presented with. I have to remember that everything builds from the first semester in the program, and that it’s imperative for students to have a strong understanding of the basics and normals before moving forward.
I also kept a “journal” of thoughts and ideas throughout the week, writing each on a sticky note. This process of incubating acted more as a type of note-keeping for me. While somewhat helpful, I thought the brainstorming discussion with my colleague was far more beneficial.
To conclude, these out-loud discussions with others can lead to new ideas and solutions, an exercise I should utilize more often. I’m looking forward to integrating these potential solutions.
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