The impact of different learning modalities on dental students: a comparison of video, visual-text, and text-based instruction

Abstract

Effective teaching methods are essential for improving dental students’ understanding of periodontal surgical procedures. Coronally advanced flap (CAF) surgery requires comprehensive knowledge of anatomical structures, surgical instruments, procedural steps, and possible complications. This study aimed to compare the effects of three instructional modalities—video, visual-text, and text-only—on fifth-year dental students’ learning of the coronally advanced flap (CAF) procedure. A randomized educational intervention study was conducted with 60 fifth-year dental students. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to one of three instructional groups ( n = 20 each): Video, Visual-text, or Text-only, using a computer-generated randomization sequence. Allocation was performed by an investigator who was not involved in outcome assessment. Baseline knowledge was assessed using a 20-item pre-test questionnaire (each item scored 0–5; total score range 0–100) covering anatomical structures, surgical instruments, procedural steps, and potential complications. The Video group watched a 15-minute narrated CAF instructional video. The Visual-text and Text-only groups reviewed the same CAF content in their respective formats for 15 min. The same questionnaire was re-administered as a post-test. Within-group changes and between-group differences were analyzed using appropriate parametric or non-parametric tests, including Kruskal–Wallis with post hoc comparisons. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. All groups demonstrated significant improvements in knowledge scores from pre- to post-intervention (Video: 18 ± 10 to 60 ± 11; Visual-text: 9 ± 6 to 58 ± 16; Text-only: 12 ± 6 to 48 ± 10; p < 0.05). Baseline knowledge scores differed significantly among the groups, with the Video group demonstrating higher pre-intervention scores than both the Visual-text and Text-only groups ( p = 0.001). Following the educational intervention, post-intervention knowledge scores also differed significantly among the groups ( p = 0.003), with both the Video and Visual-text groups achieving significantly higher scores than the Text-only group. Overall knowledge gain differed significantly among the groups ( p = 0.005), with the Visual-text group demonstrating greater improvement than the Text-only group. Question-level analyses identified significant between-group differences for Questions 10, 13, 19, and 20 (Visual-text > Text-only) and Question 16 (Video > Text-only). Video- and visual-text–based instructional formats resulted in higher immediate post-intervention knowledge scores than text-only instruction. The Visual-text group demonstrated the greatest overall knowledge gain, although no significant difference was observed between the Video and Visual-text groups. These findings suggest that multimedia-supported instructional formats may facilitate short-term knowledge acquisition in periodontal surgical education.