Application of Social Media as a Supporting Tool in the T... | NCT07184359

Status Module

Oversight Module

Description Module

Detailed Description

The sample will consist of 90 undergraduate students from the School of Dentistry at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), aged 18 years or older, who are regularly enrolled in the Dental Radiology course.

Recruitment will take place during the course sessions, through announcements made by the course instructors. The research team will only have access to participants' data after the student voluntarily makes contact and provides their information. All students who express interest and meet the inclusion criteria will be enrolled as volunteers.

Participants will be fully informed about the objectives and procedures of the study and will sign the Informed Consent Form (ICF). Each volunteer will receive a confidential identification number, which will be linked to their responses and will allow the exclusion of their data should they choose to withdraw from the study. Withdrawal may occur at any time, without any harm or disadvantage. In case of withdrawal, the participant need only notify the principal investigator, and their data will be excluded, ensuring the anonymity of all volunteers.

The results will not be presented individually, but only in aggregate form, without any identification of participants. All data collected will be accessible only to the principal investigator and the research team.

After signing the ICF, participants will be randomly allocated, by drawing lots, into three experimental groups:

Traditional Learning Group (n = 30): students undergoing the teaching-learning process without complementary content on social media; Passive Social Media Supplement Group (n = 30): students undergoing the teaching-learning process with complementary content on social media, consumed passively; Active Social Media Engagement Group (n = 30): students undergoing the teaching-learning process with complementary content through the production of audiovisual material, later shared on social media, representing active consumption.

The social media platform used will be the one identified as most frequently accessed by the students in a prior survey. The complementary digital material will cover topics from the Dental Radiology curriculum, including: intraoral radiographic techniques, radiographic processing, intraoral radiographic anatomy, and dental and periodontal alterations and lesions.

The content for G2 will be developed by students from G3, under the supervision of the course instructor and research team member (KLD). For G3, the materials will be produced and posted by the students themselves, after faculty review.

At the end of the activities, students' performance will be assessed through the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), composed of five stations simulating clinical situations, with predetermined criteria and timing for each task. The competencies to be assessed will include: a) radiographic techniques; b) dental numbering notation; c) radiographic anatomy; d) radiographic interpretation of caries/restorations; and e) radiographic periodontal diagnosis.

At no stage will individual results be disclosed to other students or to anyone outside the research team. All data will remain restricted to the principal investigator and the research team and will be presented only in aggregate and anonymized form.

Design Module

Interventional Study Design

Biospecimen

No data available

No data is available for this block.

Arms/Interventions Module

Arm Groups

Label	Type	Description	Intervention Names
Traditional Learning Group	Active Comparator	Teaching-learning process carried out without the inclusion of supplementary content on social media platforms.	Behavioral: Traditional Learning
Passive Social Media Supplement Group	Experimental	Teaching-learning process supplemented with content passively accessed through social media.	Behavioral: Traditional Learning Behavioral: Passive Social Media
Active Social Media Engagement Group	Experimental	Teaching-learning process supplemented with content actively produced and shared through social media.	Behavioral: Traditional Learning Behavioral: Passive Social Media Behavioral: Active Social Media

Interventions

Name	Type	Description	Arm Group Labels	Other Names
Traditional Learning	Behavioral	All participants will have access to the conventional teaching-learning process (lecture-based classes). These theoretical classes will be delivered as part of the Dental Radiology course. During the semester, the topics covered will include intraoral radiographic techniques, radiographic processing, intraoral radiographic anatomy, and dental and periodontal alterations and lesions.

Outcomes Module

Primary Outcomes

Measure	Description	Time Frame
Overall OSCE Score	The study will use the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to assess students' clinical competencies in a standardized and objective manner. Participants will rotate through five consecutive stations designed to evaluate specific skills under controlled conditions. One active station will involve performing a periapical radiograph while following biosafety, radioprotection, and processing protocols. Four passive stations will focus on case analysis, interpretation, and clinical decision-making. Each station will include a structured checklist with predefined criteria and will be scored from zero to 100, with 100 being the best result. All participants will complete the stations in the same sequence, and the final score will be calculated by summing the points obtained and dividing by the number of stations, providing a standardized performance score, with the best result corresponding to the highest score.	The assessment will be conducted at the end of each academic semester, specifically in the 15th week after the beginning of the semester, in accordance with the institution's academic calendar.

Secondary Outcomes

Measure	Description	Time Frame
Active Station Score	After one minute of reading a simulated clinical case, the student will perform a periapical radiograph using an artificial dental skull model. During this activity, the student is expected to correctly apply biosafety and radioprotection principles, as well as the procedures for radiograph acquisition and processing. At this station, the student will be assessed using a structured checklist with predefined criteria, receiving a score ranging from 0 to 100 points, with 100 representing the highest performance. This station has a total duration of six minutes.

Eligibility Module

Facility	Status	City	State	ZIP	Country	Contacts
Federal University of Juiz de Fora		Juiz de Fora	Minas Gerais		Brazil

References Module

Citations

PubMed Identifier	Type	Citation	Retractions
32059561	Background	Stellefson M, Paige SR, Chaney BH, Chaney JD. Evolving Role of Social Media in Health Promotion: Updated Responsibilities for Health Education Specialists. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Feb 12;17(4):1153. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17041153.
31238927	Background	Soltanimehr E, Bahrampour E, Imani MM, Rahimi F, Almasi B, Moattari M. Effect of virtual versus traditional education on theoretical knowledge and reporting skills of dental students in radiographic interpretation of bony lesions of the jaw. BMC Med Educ. 2019 Jun 25;19(1):233. doi: 10.1186/s12909-019-1649-0.

IPD Sharing Statement Module