Dental Education MA

• Study with an inspirational, inter-disciplinary course team who are established medical and dental educators with experience spanning undergraduate and postgraduate dental, medical and healthcare education
• Explore the wide range of learning, teaching and assessment methods used across all levels of dental education and training
• Develop a supervised independent project that focuses on dental education research, innovation or improvement
• Gain the skills, attitudes and practices of an expert dental educator, acquire a deep awareness of personal responsibility and professional codes of conduct, learn to critically appraise both your own and others’ practice, and address your emerging development needs through independent and collaborative activity
• Benefit from visiting experts who make regular contributions to study days, master classes and online activity.

This course supports your development as a dental educator, scholar and leader. It provides opportunities to develop your thinking and practice within a dynamic multi-disciplinary community of clinical educators. 

The course team models learner-centred teaching, learning and assessment practices and provides plentiful opportunities for you to rehearse them yourself. Assessments foster strong links between your learning and practice.

Your final assignment is a supervised Dental Education Research Project in an area of professional interest, which provides a clear sense of your educational role responsibilities and the confidence to offer guidance to peers who wish to develop their own educational practices.  You thus evidence emerging educational leadership capabilities along with developed skills in project design, management and evaluation.

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The assessment strategy for the course combines formative and summative elements i.e assessment for learning and assessment of learning. It is designed to foster strong links between learning on the course and the lived realities of dental educators working in a range of clinical and academic contexts. It is also designed to enable you to evidence your achievement of standards for dental educators, in order to satisfy requirements of professional bodies and organisations. The choice of assessments is determined on the basis of their fitness for purpose i.e. to evidence achievement of unit learning outcomes at m-level (Level 7). However, they also rehearse writing for a range of academic purposes; an early assessment point in Dental Education in Practice (a core unit) is designed to rehearse writing in the reflective genre and Harvard referencing conventions. Later assessments move to writing in the academic genre, within the traditions of the social sciences. Increasing emphasis is placed on academic literacy and the ability to present complex ideas coherently with reference to appropriate literature. Plentiful opportunities are built in to the course to rehearse these skills, e.g. exercises in problematising, practice in assessing exemplars of actual (anonymised) assignments, using the criteria we use on the course. By modelling and analysing best practice in educational assessment, we hope you will gain confidence and skills in critiquing, using and developing their own approaches to assessment. To enhance your understanding and experiences of assessment practices (relevant to your role as an educator) you will encounter a wide range of assessment methods. Examples of assessment methods used across the course are: evidence based portfolios (e.g. Dental Education in Practice, Simulation in Practice,); academic papers (e.g. Contemporary Educational Perspectives); critical appraisals (Workplace Based Learning); Oral presentations (Dental Education Development Project); Case Studies (Workplace Based Learning, Simulation in Practice) Reflective assignments (Dental Education in Practice, Developing the Dental Team) Literature review (Workplace Based Learning and Dental Education Research Project) and research proposals (Dental Education Research and Development Projects) Details of assessment methods are found in each UIF.

The course develops the skills and practices of those who wish to enhance their capacity to fulfil educational role(s) in dental and other healthcare education contexts. By participating on this course you will be ideally placed to respond to current and future developments in educational policies and practices.

The Postgraduate Certificate courses that lead into the MA in Dental Education are accredited by the Academy of Medical Educators; they provide a sound basis for evidencing your competence as both a clinical and educational supervisor.

The Postgraduate Diploma stage allows you to deepen your understandings and extend your skill set as a dental educator within a dynamic dental team. The dissertation stage develops your scholarship and ability to independently design, implement and evaluate a dental education research project. The research project stage position you to adopt a critical stance to existing practice and lead improvements and innovation.

It is anticipated that graduates of the course will be well prepared to assume named educational roles and responsibilities, including educational leadership responsibilities, albeit commensurate with experience.

This course supports your development as a dental educator, scholar and leader. It provides opportunities to develop your thinking and practice within a dynamic multi-disciplinary community of clinical educators. The course team models learner-centred teaching, learning and assessment practices and provides plentiful opportunities for you to rehearse them yourself. Assessments foster strong links between your learning and practice. Your final assignment is a supervised Dental Education Research Project in an area of professional interest, which provides a clear sense of your educational role responsibilities and the confidence to offer guidance to peers who wish to develop their own educational practices. You thus evidence emerging educational leadership capabilities along with developed skills in project design, management and evaluation.

Quote from a lecturer

Putteridge Bury campus

Our Putteridge Bury campus is a magnificent neo-Elizabethan manor house built in 1911 in the style of Chequers, with beautiful grounds and a reflecting pool. 

It is home to University events including graduations, academic research symposia and seminars such as those held by our business school's postgraduate programmes, as well as a wide variety of public and private events including conferences, weddings, funeral receptions and public holiday functions.

Find out more about Putteridge Bury's public and private events

Location

Ideally located only four miles from Luton town centre, Putteridge Bury is set in picturesque parkland just off the A505 and enjoys a tranquil rural environment and ample parking within the grounds.

Putteridge Bury is a short drive from the University Square campus, London Luton airport, the train station and bus station.

A free shuttle bus service operates between Putteridge Bury and the University Square campus in Luton town centre .