DMD Elective Courses

Did you know the college offers courses beyond the core curriculum? Take the path less traveled and enroll in an elective course. These courses are designed for students to dive deeper in areas of interest, get exposure to new areas, conduct research and work closer with faculty mentors.

DMD students have to complete a minimum of six credit hours of approved elective course work before graduation. Electives courses are included in the DMD tuition. It is good to start early. Visit the Elective Courses webpage for more information where there is more information about registering for new electives.

Another path for personalized curriculum is Continuing Dental Education. Students must complete 12 CEU’s (six in junior year and six in senior year) of continuing dental education prior to graduation. Visit the D.M.D. Continuing Education webpage for more information on available courses, FAQ’s and the enrollment process. Students must turn in a copy of their certificate to the Office of Education to verify completion.

Students can check the ECO DEN9991: Electives and Continuing Education Course to verify  completion of these expectations.

"Education is not preparation for life: Education is life itself." - John Dewey

Course Spotlight:

DEN 5013 - Foundations in Professionalism

Olga Luaces, D.M.D., is the course director for DEN5013: Foundations of Professionalism. She created active learning environments where students engaged with each other and used technology to facilitate learning. Luaces began planning the learning objectives for her Fall 2018 course and aligning student learning goals to interactive course activities and assignments in April 2018 at a Course Mapping Camp held by the Center for Instructional Technology & Training, or CITT. Through dedicated planning she was able to create a varied course that includes relevant guest speakers, a variety of projects, and plenty of time for first year students to get to know each other.

“The whole first semester is a time for students to bond and find their people. Dr. Luaces was able to help the class grow as a cohesive unit learning from each other,” said Patty Probert, Ph.D., and assistant dean for Student Advocacy and Inclusion. Student groups were formed based on results of their StrengthsQuest types to help every member of their class leverage their strengths. Many team-based projects allowed students to put their strengths to the test. To create the DMD Class of 2022 Code of Conduct this year, students used a software program, Mentimeter, to submit and vote on their values. Utsing tools in Canvas helped with the collaborative writing process. An ethical dilemmas video project allowed students to showcase talent with writing, directing and filming their own 5-10 minute films. Many of the videos even had guest star faculty and staff.

“The video projects were so creative. I was impressed.” Luaces said.

The students screened their videos for classmates during a special session compete with popcorn!

Canvas Training Workshop

In late October 2018, almost 20 UFCD faculty and staff completed Canvas training at the Health Science Center. Eliot Tordoff from UF Academic Technology’s Training Division designed a hands-on, interactive session which allowed participants to practice elements of course design. He tailored the session for UFCD faculty and explored common ways in which we can use Canvas to better serve our students.

The session focused on basics like course navigation and settings, assessment methods, assignment design and quizzes. He also shared helpful details like how to set up assignment weights in your gradebook, how to group students for peer-learning assignments, and how to create peer-review assignments.

Tordoff wove course design best practices throughout the session. Some important tips when creating a Canvas course include:

• Student-Centered Design: Think about your course from a student perspective.
“Design your online course/content with ease of navigation for the students in mind.”

• Help students remember your content: Organize material into small, logical chunks or “modules.”
“The modules tab is a great way to organize all the content into smaller, more manageable chunks. It also is useful for your students to see the progression of the course, and layouts the expectations.”

• First impressions matter: Create a welcoming homepage.
One option is to “incorporate a recipe-style list of to-do's, which can help students organize themselves and their workflow.”

• Engage students with regular communication.

• You can create a “welcome to the course” message to go out to students at the beginning of the semester.

• “Gradebook messages are a great way for you to monitor your students’ progress in specific assignments and tasks. Within the Gradebook, you can contact students by adding comments about their specific assignment submissions.”

• “The chat feature may be an excellent way to communicate with your students, as it is less formal and may be more convenient for your students as the format and layout seems very similar to platforms in which they usually communicate with friends.”

Partnering with UF Academic Technology’s Training Division was a great way to bring basic Canvas training to our college. We really appreciated the session that Tordoff created for our faculty and staff. The Office of Education hopes to offer future Canvas training sessions on more advanced topics like an in depth session on building Canvas quizzes.

Classroom Updates: D8-46 and more!

The Office of Education and Instructional Support team are working to implement further improvements to dental classrooms. Classroom D8-46 now has new flooring and has reopened for regular scheduling. Videoconferencing will be given first priority in scheduling. All room requests must include the name, phone number and email address of the requester, as well as the name of the group and the purpose of the meeting. Room requests can be sent to bmertz@dental.ufl.edu. 

Additional upcoming improvements include a renovation of D3-21, technology updates in D8-11, new seats and tables in D3-3, and wheels being added to the tables and chairs to make the classrooms more versatile. Look for these improvements coming soon.