Dr. Maria Lourdes E. Cantor 
Dr. Joseph Acosta
mecantor@e.ubaguio.edu
Endodontics Department, School of Dentistry,
University of Baguio, Baguio City Philippines 2600
Academic Journal of Health Sciences. Volume 36, Number 3 | ht10.3306/AJHS.2021.36.03.113
Abstract
Background: As part of the education and training of preclinical students in endodontics, traditional lectures on the content are
normally delivered, and laboratory exercises on extracted tooth specimens are carried out. Innovative methods to improve the
effectiveness and quality of teaching dental students have been proposed, such as inquiry-based teaching. This study aimed to
compare the effectiveness of direct instruction and inquiry-based teaching on the performance in root canal treatment exercises of preclinical students.
Methods: A total of 49 students enrolled in the preclinical course in Endodontics during the first semester of 2016-2017 in a Dentistry school in the Philippines agreed to participate in the study. The students were first exposed to direct instruction then followed by inquiry-based teaching. The performance of the students in their root canal treatment exercise in both methods was recorded. The performance of the students using the two methods was compared using the t-test.
Results: Based on the students’ scores in the exercise after direct teaching, a greater percentage failed, while after the inquiry-based method, their scores showed that the percentage of students who passed has markedly increased. There is a significant difference in the students’ performance using direct teaching only and their performance after the inquiry-based teaching at 0.05 level of significance.
Conclusion: Therefore, inquiry-based teaching is effective in improving the preclinical students’ performance in endodontics
Keywords: Direct instruction, inquiry-based teaching, performance, root canal treatment exercise
