Health Sciences

The difficulty of learning voluminous content in Tooth Morphology -Module 3 has proven to be extremely taxing to learners, particularly to those who are inadequately prepared, as it involves very high cognitive and abstract theoretical content. This is further compounded by accompanying learner anxiety toward the voluminous material. Consequently, this encourages rote learning and is often approached with much negatively as learners are unable to conceptualise their learning material. In an attempt to remove learners' mental block on this module critically required innovative ways of learning. One such intervention, namely the Tooth Morphology Board Game (TMBG) was developed for first year learners studying towards a diploma in Dental Technology.

Several game scholars contend that the traditional understanding of vocational education in terms of curriculum content only is insufficient. Instead, they propose that lecturers need to develop a system in which students learn to think and work as reflective practitioners through an epistemic frame that mimics the real-world to allow students to have rich experiences of their domain-specific subjects. The Framework for the Rational Analysis of Mobile Education (FRAME) model offers some insight into the development of an epistemic frame within a mobile device. In particular, it extensively links the hardware, software and connectivity options to meets with learner's cognitive, physical and psychological needs in the context of their learning environment. In this model, the mobile device is an active component and the mobile learning experiences are viewed as existing within the context of information that is mediated through technology. The aim of this paper is to explore the efficacy of using Muscle Mania © as a mobile platform. Arguments for implementing mobile-learning within higher education have generated an increasing volume of research. The general focus of these studies, however, is based largely on empirically documented work with little theorisation on the design of mobile games. In the pursuit of using mobile technology to develop an epistemic or discipline-specific game that will facilitate the teaching and learning of the muscles of mastication and facial expression, this paper explores the FRAME model and how it can be used as a substantive theory for mobile-learning. A qualitative research design and a case study strategy were adopted. Data was collected by means of reflective reports on the mobile game prototype from the technical designer, lecturers and students. With its strong emphasis on educational software design, the Device Usability Aspect of the FRAME model guided the internal architecture needed to design the epistemic frame of a mobile game. Equally significant, the FRAME model foregrounds the concept of technoentrepreneurship as it demonstrates how lecturers use technology to move from delivery and supervision to the production of knowledge.

Much of the current literature (Buttery, Richter & Filho 2005; Hasrati & Hashemi 2011; Lee 2012; Pearson & Kayrooz 2004; Woolderink, Putnik, van der Boom & Klabbers 2015) on postgraduate research supervision concentrates on supervisors and their different approaches to research supervision. There has been less exploration on the impact of these approaches on the student, particularly in the context of co-supervision, such as the case reported here where the supervisors have different discipline knowledge, namely the pure sciences and social sciences. For Bernstein (2000), the social sciences have ‘horizontal knowledge structures’ in that they are made up of a collection of ‘specialised languages that are discrete and non-translatable’. The pure sciences, by contrast, have ‘vertical knowledge structures’, which build general theories. As reported by Henkel (2005), academics identities are tightly attached to their disciplines. Given that the disciplinary homes of the two supervisors reported in this paper were so disparate, the supervision relationship reported in this chapter had the potential to be a triad of conflict and difficulties. This narrative therefore intends to describe the research difficulties that emerged, how they were negotiated, and whether the supervision combination was a productive and positive approach, or not. Not surprising, then, that part of this enquiry required negotiating the legitimacy of diverse epistemologies and approaches to research discourses of the two supervisors, while retaining and developing my own doctoral voice. Bitzer and van der Bergh (2014: 1047) describe that to become “…doctoral implies personal transformation and change, which extends beyond methodological rigour, epistemological understanding and socialisation into a discipline”. In attempting to respond to this, and based on several key contributions (Boehe 2014; Lee 2008; Mainhard, van der Rijst, van Tartwijk & Wubbels 2009; Pearson & Kayrooz 2004; Pyhalto, Vekkaila & Keskinen 2015; Wadee, Keane, Dietz & Hay 2010), this chapter reflects my own experiences of being supervised by supervisors who were differently situated in terms of institutional types, disciplinary homes and discursive positions.

INTRODUCTION: Selection tests provide early indications of prospective students' competencies, skills and knowledge.
Knowledge of students' learning styles and their correlation to entrance tests can contribute to the debate on student retention and attrition rates in higher education, which have been dominant research focus areas in the past decade.
AIM AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationship between Dental Technology students' learning styles and their performance in entrance tests at the Durban University of Technology.
DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study design within a quantitative framework was used.
METHODS: The 2019 first year students completed the VARK® questionnaire, which was used to determine their learning styles. The VARK results were compared against the data obtained from entrance tests. Cross tabulations and Fisher's Exact tests (p<0.05) were used to analyse the data.
RESULTS: Despite there being no correlation between students' performances in entrance tests and their preferred learning styles, the most dominant learning styles among Dental Technology first year students were unimodal (kinaesthetic) and quadrimodal (VARK).
CONCLUSIONS: This evidence-based data is critical in developing more appropriate student selection and placement tests for the Bachelor of Health Sciences in Dental Technology, and other similar programmes.

Keywords: VARK, learning styles, Dental Technology, selection tests.

INTRODUCTION: The use of selection, diagnostic, proficiency, placement, admission, manual dexterity and aptitude tests can reportedly predict students' academic success. Predictive admission procedures help to reduce dropout rates, improve academic performance, increase success rates, and selectively exclude applicants who are unlikely to be successful in the course. There is an absence of research, however, in this area of work in Dental Technology.
AIM: To examine the association between pre-admission assessments and Dental Technology students' academic performance in a South African University of Technology.
DESIGN: A quantitative and cross-sectional study design was used.
METHODS: The target populations were the 2018 and 2019 first-year Dental Technology students. Retrospective data extracted from academic records and programme files were statistically analysed to measure the correlations against students' academic performance
RESULTS: Despite there being no significant differences between pre-admission tests and students' academic performance, there were significant positive correlations between first-year university subjects.
CONCLUSIONS: There are indications of horizontal coherence between the discipline-specific subjects in the first-year Dental Technology curriculum.
Examining the association between pre-admission tests and students' academic results through to graduation, together with the horizontal and vertical alignments of all subjects in the undergraduate Dental Technology curriculum, can facilitate the learning pathways for students to succeed academically at universities.

Keywords: Manual dexterity tests, dental technology, curriculum coherence, cognitive abilities, psychomotor skills.

INTRODUCTION: Incorrect impression-taking techniques and processing errors are known factors contributing to ill-fitting acrylic partial dentures (APDs). Environmental factors such as high temperature and humidity levels can further contribute to the misfits of APDs

In South Africa, the average summer temperature and humidity level is 21°C and 50%, respectively, which may adversely affect APDs during storage post-manufacture.

AIM: To investigate the effect of storage conditions on the deformation patterns of acrylic partial denture bases.

METHODS: Thirty maxillary APD bases were fabricated, and divided into three sample groups, namely: the wet-stored 9-hour cure, dry-stored 9-hour cure, and dry-stored 1//-hour cure. The dimensional fit in the areas of the incisive papilla, maxillary first molars, and the deepest part of the midline posteriorly were measured using a Mitutoyo™ micro-meter

RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the deformation patterns in the incisal area (p>0.42). Significant differences in the deformation patterns in the maxillary first molar areas (p<0.04) were recorded. The deformation of fit increased as storage time increased.

CONCLUSION: This study confirms that the deformation patterns of APDs are reduced if kept hydrated on storage.

In this research, we begin with the problems academics experience as they navigate their way towards new ways of working associated with the recently emerged University of Technology sector. Using change laboratories' methodology, academics are taken through successive problem solving and solution developing workshops. This involves them, firstly, reflecting on past and current problematic experiences and issues in their daily lives. These experiences are then mediated through the application of Activity Theory principles so that problems are understood in a more systematic and related manner. In so doing, the academics collaboratively come to understand the contradictions which underpin current problems in working life and attempt to open up possibilities for future changes and improvements in the structure and purpose of the university. Even though a number of problems and potential resolutions are discussed in this research, this is not the focus of the article, and there are no grand claims being made about problems and their possible future solutions. Rather, the article aims to highlight how a change laboratory methodology can help academic staff develop more systematic understandings of problems emerging in universities in times of change. The focus is thus more on the learning opportunities afforded participants within the laboratory, both now and for the future.

This study aimed to determine the physicochemical characteristics of an eggshell-based dental abrasive material. The eggshell powder abrasive material (EPAM) was synthesized by ball milling eggshell powder and surfactants. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and a laser diffraction particle size analyzer (PSA) were used to characterize EPAM. In addition, the abrasive characteristics of EPAM were evaluated by comparison using poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) resins. Surface roughness (Ra) was measured using a profilometer. The FTIR spectroscopy and XRD analysis confirmed that the carbonate product was primarily calcite (97.3%) with traces of graphite 2H (1.3%) and thenardite (1.4%). The TEM imagery revealed irregular particles in EPAM. The PSA analysis of the particle size distribution showed EPAM to be a superfine powder (0.3 µm to 50 nm). In addition, the 50-nm EPAM (Ra = 0.04 µm) measured the lowest Ra val...

The higher education landscape in South Africa has changed dramatically over the last two decades. The types, size and shape of tertiary institutions were reconfigured. Concomitantly the intake of students also changed, resulting in a large number of students coming from the previously disadvantaged communities who are deemed as being underprepared. Challenges were posed to educators and learners. First-year students in the Dental Technology programme at the Durban University of Technology struggle to cope with the transition from secondary school life into higher education. With this in mind, two workshops involving activities and tasks were designed to enable students to gain awareness of the academic and social practices of Dental Technology. An interpretive research design and an action research case study strategy were adopted. Data gathered by means of questionnaires, a focus group interview, and direct observations via video recordings were used. Further expansion and incorporation of using workshops to access knowledge in the curriculum is recommended by the authors.

No reproduction, copy or transmission may be made without written permission from the individual authors. Review Process Papers submitted to this conference have been double-blind peer reviewed before final acceptance to the conference. Initially, abstracts were reviewed for relevance and accessibility and successful authors were invited to submit full papers. Many thanks to the reviewers who helped ensure the quality of all the submissions. Ethics and Publication Malpractice Policy ACPIL adheres to a strict ethics and publication malpractice policy for all publicationsdetails of which can be found here: http://www.academic-conferences.org/policies/ethics-policy-for-publishing-in-theconference-proceedings-of-academic-conferences-and-publishing-international-limited/ Conference Proceedings The Conference Proceedings is a book published with an ISBN and ISSN. The proceedings have been submitted to a number of accreditation, citation and indexing bodies including Thomson ISI Web of Science and Elsevier Scopus. Author affiliation details in these proceedings have been reproduced as supplied by the authors themselves.

No reproduction, copy or transmission may be made without written permission from the individual authors. Review Process Papers submitted to this conference have been double-blind peer reviewed before final acceptance to the conference. Initially, abstracts were reviewed for relevance and accessibility and successful authors were invited to submit full papers. Many thanks to the reviewers who helped ensure the quality of all the submissions. Ethics and Publication Malpractice Policy ACPIL adheres to a strict ethics and publication malpractice policy for all publicationsdetails of which can be found here: http://www.academic-conferences.org/policies/ethics-policy-for-publishing-in-theconference-proceedings-of-academic-conferences-and-publishing-international-limited/ Conference Proceedings The Conference Proceedings is a book published with an ISBN and ISSN. The proceedings have been submitted to a number of accreditation, citation and indexing bodies including Thomson ISI Web of Science and Elsevier Scopus. Author affiliation details in these proceedings have been reproduced as supplied by the authors themselves.

Much of the current literature (Buttery, Richter & Filho 2005; Hasrati & Hashemi 2011; Lee 2012; Pearson & Kayrooz 2004; Woolderink, Putnik, van der Boom & Klabbers 2015) on postgraduate research supervision concentrates on supervisors and their different approaches to research supervision. There has been less exploration on the impact of these approaches on the student, particularly in the context of co-supervision, such as the case reported here where the supervisors have different discipline knowledge, namely the pure sciences and social sciences. For Bernstein (2000), the social sciences have ‘horizontal knowledge structures’ in that they are made up of a collection of ‘specialised languages that are discrete and non-translatable’. The pure sciences, by contrast, have ‘vertical knowledge structures’, which build general theories. As reported by Henkel (2005), academics identities are tightly attached to their disciplines. Given that the disciplinary homes of the two supervisors ...

Several game scholars contend that the traditional understanding of vocational education in terms of curriculum content only is insufficient. Instead, they propose that lecturers need to develop a system in which students learn to think and work as reflective practitioners through an epistemic frame that mimics the real-world to allow students to have rich experiences of their domain-specific subjects. The Framework for the Rational Analysis of Mobile Education (FRAME) model offers some insight into the development of an epistemic frame within a mobile device. In particular, it extensively links the hardware, software and connectivity options to meets with learner’s cognitive, physical and psychological needs in the context of their learning environment. In this model, the mobile device is an active component and the mobile learning experiences are viewed as existing within the context of information that is mediated through technology. The aim of this paper is to explore the effica...

Despite the expanding literature in the last three decades on modes of implementation and the various forms of formal and informal assessments, there is limited evidence of academics' knowledge and understanding of continuous assessment practice. Using a mixed methods sequential explanatory research design, this paper aimed to investigate academics' knowledge and understanding of the structure of continuous assessment and its application in supporting students' learning experiences at a South African University of Technology. The results of this study provide the basis to initiate deeper discussions on developing shared understandings of assessment literacy, assessment bunching, and assessment validity and reliability. These elements are all required for the enhancement of quality assurance and monitoring of fit for purpose continuous assessment practices.

The use of selection, diagnostic, proficiency, placement, admission, manual dexterity and aptitude tests can reportedly predict students’ academic success. Predictive admission procedures help to reduce dropout rates, improve academic performance, increase success rates, and selectively exclude applicants who are unlikely to be successful in the course. There is an absence of research, however, in this area of work in Dental Technology.

Various materials have been reported to improve the strength and fatigue resistance of poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) denture base resins, however there is limited evidence on using natural fibers. This study determined the flexural and impact strengths of Hibiscus sabdariffa fiberreinforced PMMA acrylic resins. From the 50 PMMA specimens fabricated, 40 were reinforced with Hibiscus sabdariffa fibers of different weight percentages (wt%) and 10 were unreinforced. There were two sample groups, each consisting of 25 PMMA specimens for flexural and impact strengths testing, respectively. Statistically, ANOVA and Bonferroni tests showed significant differences among the groups. Flexural strength results revealed that PMMA reinforced with 7.5 wt% fibers produced the highest mean value (101.20 ±3.654) MPa, followed by the 10 wt% (88.67±13.752) MPa, unreinforced (83.55±0.618) MPa, 5 wt% (75.58 ±3.676) MPa, and 2.5 wt% (68.84 ±4.293) MPa. Impact test results revealed that PMMA reinforced w...