From Edmonton to Karachi: teaching tools go the distance

A student at Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan using the video (note the U of A logo on the screen behind her) to begin simulation practice.

Two new classes of first-year dental hygiene students will be using a series of videos developed by the School of Dentistry’s Sally Lockwood, Associate Clinical Professor in Dental Hygiene. Most interesting is that one of these classes is in Karachi, Pakistan!

Lockwood created the videos to support teaching in the periodontal instrumentation skills lab. She says there wasn't a resource that met her course needs exactly, so she made 27 videos demonstrating technique for her students to watch at any time.

“Developing psychomotor skills requires independent practice and self direction,” Lockwood says. “Good learning resources ensure that the students practice correct technique. Having a visual resource such as these also helped to address all of the various learning styles.”

Lockwood is happy the School’s hard work could be shared. “I have a lot of confidence in our pre-clinical program,” she says. “We have a lot of expertise in our department so I was excited we could share this resource with Aga Khan University.”

The U of A has partered with Aga Khan University (AKU) for more than 15 years, and the School of Dentistry has been supporting the AKU dental programs for close to a decade. The director of their Dental Hygiene Program, Salima Alibhai, says, “Shared resources for sustainability, such as these videos, contribute to a range of practices including introductory hands-on instrumentation for the simulation lab, revision exercises as embedded files for the placement on our virtual learning platform and for remediation workshops for student progression.”

In 2010, when the School of Dentistry began moving into new facilities, they donated some equipment to AKU’s Pakistani and East African campuses. When Alibhai was recruited to AKU in 2018, Dr. Sharon Compton, director of the Dental Hygiene Program at the U of A, was asked to mentor her.

“Our dental hygiene program has experienced so much growth during my time here,” says Compton. “I am pleased I could spare Salima some of the growing pains I experienced. This intercollegial sharing truly uplifts our profession.”

Lockwood would like to thank Jan Ritchie, professor in the U of A dental hygiene program, for her technique modelling, and Patick von Hauff with Academic Technologies for his editing expertise.