National Board Dental Examinations evaluate students’ preparedness for the study and practice of dentistry. All U.S. licensing jurisdictions require evidence that a candidate for licensure has passed Parts I and II of the tests. They are also required when applying for most postgraduate studies in dental specialties.
At NYU, exams are generally taken in the second half of the four-year Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry (DMD) or Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree program, with Part I of the exam occurring as early as the second year. Part I covers topics in basic sciences that are often learned in the first year of dental school, such as anatomy and physiology.
To pass the board exam it is essential for students to recall and demonstrate mastery of fundamental concepts such as muscles of mastication and their attachments, the spatial relationship of structures in the oral cavity and their blood supply and innervation.
Materials for a single anatomy class span thousands of pages, which contain hundreds of learning objectives. Furthermore, beyond the sheer volume of content there is a tremendous amount of pressure to pass the test. Unlike other tests, the board exam tests overall knowledge, not just the ability to recite facts and figures. Students must learn the content as well as learn strategies and techniques needed to pass the exam.
A common strategy in passing any standardized test is for learners to practice the material often, to the degree that they are confident they have become experts. So it is essential that students know the material well. With a large class of approximately 350 students, and 32 groups, Dr. Elena Cunningham, a professor at the NYU College of Dentistry, knew she needed an effective and efficient test prep solution to support each and every student during their review process for the Memre learning technology. The solution needed to scale and it needed to work. Memre was the perfect learning solution to help students refresh their memory of first year course material, and ensure mastery.
Dr. Cunningham selected the Memre personalized learning platform to bring foundational knowledge to the forefront. Memre’s learning engine applied a powerful combination of two robust principles in Learning Science - Distributed Learning and Retrieval Practice. The solution tracked each student’s interactions with the material, adapting the review schedule and learning experience to help them learn more efficiently and effectively.
Dr. Cunningham and her team were able to easily add course material and map the questions on the board exam to Memre’s testing modules. The solution’s analytics tools monitored student progress and provided valuable insights on previously unknown information, enabling the faculty to see how individual students performed, compared to the rest of the class.
Memre proved very effective in helping NYU Dental students demonstrate knowledge and mastery of anatomy.
Memre reduced small-group learning hours by 50%. The platform replaced 96 faculty hours, freeing up valuable time over the summer months.
The class obtained a 100% pass rate with anatomy scores that were 2.6 standard deviations above the national average of dental schools (beating their previous average).
The successful pilot program, focusing on the review of gross anatomy of the head and neck to prepare for board exams, indicated a clear path to learning.
The NYU College of Dentistry (NYUCD) is the third oldest and the largest dental school in the United States, educating nearly 8% of U.S. dentists annually. NYUCD has nearly 1,900 students in its various pre- and postdoctoral programs in the U.S. and in 40 countries. NYUCD offers specialty training in the dental specialty areas of endodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, and prosthodontics, as well as in implant dentistry; conducts an extensive continuing education program; and is home to the only dental school-affiliated dental hygiene program in New York State.