University of Manitoba

U of M - Dentistry - Educational Specialist Office - Goals

Educational Specialist Office - Goals

Promoting and Developing an Innovative and Supportive Learning Environment for Tomorrow's Dental Professionals
Goals of the Education Specialist Office
The goals of the Education Specialist's Office are:
  • To provide expertise in teaching and learning issues for the Faculty of Dentistry and the School of Dental Hygiene.

  • To provide leadership in education research in dentistry and dental hygiene, both nationally and internationally.

  • To collaborate with other education researchers across departments and disciplines.

  • To engage in dental education research partnerships with other dental institutions.
About the Education Specialist Office
Significant to the Faculty of Dentistry and School of Dental Hygiene are each of the research foci of the Education Specialist Office.

First, to provide expertise in the scholarship of teaching and learning by conducting research on current teaching and learning issues in Dentistry and Dental Hygiene, including the study of effective didactic and clinical teaching behaviours; exploration of effective use of technology in the classroom (i.e., Dentistry 1 student laptop and Vital Source Technologies), refinement of curriculum through ongoing curriculum mapping initiatives and preparation for accreditation; establishing and maintaining a current teaching resource repository for dentistry and dental hygiene; annual polling of students to capture their perceptions about their learning experiences; tracking student development from entrance to dental and dental hygiene programs, to graduation, and into oral health careers and the impact that their education has on their current occupations; understanding the IDDP student programs; and exploring new methods to capture current student practitioner communication dynamics toward patients in an attempt to strengthen their communication skills as clinicians.

Second, the training of future dental academicians through B.Sc. research initiatives focusing on teaching and learning issues in oral health, and sponsored by NORTH and ADEA.

Third, to provide leadership in education research in dentistry and dental hygiene, through dissemination of research findings at national and international conferences such as ADEA, STLHE, POD, CDHA and publications in oral health journals such as Journal of Dental Education; and through representation on various national and international committees focusing on dental and related higher education issues such as STLHE, EDO, POD, and ADEA.

Fourth, to collaborate with other education researchers across departments and disciplines in joint education research projects, such as the training of future professoriate, interprofessional education initiatives among dentistry, dental hygiene, medicine, pharmacy, and nursing. Finally, to engage in dental education research partnerships with other dental institutions, both nationally (i.e., teaching technology with Faculties of Dentistry in Toronto and Dalhousie) and potentially internationally (i.e., identifying communication dynamics of dental and dental hygiene student practitioners, Faculty of Dentistry - University of Adelaide, Australia).
Office Staff
Dr. Dieter Schonwetter
Director,
Educational Resources,
Faculty Development,
and Dental Computing Services

Dieter began working with the University of Manitoba in 2000 when he was brought on as the coordinator of the University of Manitoba's Introduction to University program. From there he went on to become the Associate Director of University Teaching Services.

In 2004 Dieter began working as the Education Specialist for the University of Manitoba Faculty of Dentistry. Dieter's goal for the Education Specialist office is to build on and extend the strengths of teaching and learning at the Faculty of Dentistry.

Dieter's numerous duties include:

  • Facilitation of educational programs and education program development within the Faculty of Dentistry
  • Facilitation of the evaluation process of the undergraduate dental school curriculum
  • Working collaboratively with the Associate Dean (Academic) on programming and research projects focused on faculty educational development issues
  • Faculty development in the area of education, including supervision of Masters and Doctoral students
  • Designing appropriate educational tools/processes to assess the effectiveness of the faculty development program
  • Consulting on educational strategies for technology based courses and/or applications
  • Development of models and tools for evaluation of programs and learning
  • Service on any departmental, faculty and/or University committees to which you are appointed or elected
  • Research in the area of dental education and oral health
  • Community service