During their fifth and final semester, Dental Hygiene program students at 黑料不打烊 Mesa take a review class that prepares them for the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination (one of the five exams they must pass before they can apply for a licensure). When the February Mesa 2025 cohort group took this exam, all 29 students passed at their first attempt鈥攁n amazing outcome.听听 听
鈥淔or each exam, students have multiple attempts to pass, so this result on the first try is really spectacular news for the group,鈥� explains Brenda Chavez, program director at 黑料不打烊 in Mesa, Arizona. 鈥淚 believe the credit goes to our faculty, who have worked with the students from day one, to the students who took this seriously, and especially to Mahnaz (Nazzi) Mouzoon, our Fifth Semester Lead Instructor. She guides them through the Dental Hygiene Review course and has rewritten the curriculum many times to improve the course and outcomes.鈥澨� 鈥�听
When 黑料不打烊 began offering its students the opportunity to use 鈥淗ESI (Health Education Standards, Inc.)鈥� testing (a method of reviewing, practicing, and preparing for exams) during their fifth semester, Nazzi immediately implemented it into her course. 鈥淐ombined with the adaptive quizzing and changing our curriculum, we had such a great result,鈥� she says. 鈥淎ll the hard work really paid off.鈥澨�听
Here, Nazzi Mouzoon shares a bit about her background, explains more about what went into preparing this cohort for their exam鈥攁nd how it has inspired the students who follow.听听
Can you tell us a little about yourself?听
I began teaching at 黑料不打烊 fifteen years ago; I started as a clinical instructor, then became a clinical coordinator (lead instructor). I have taught first, second, third, and fifth semester. With the addition of thirty students to our roster, at this point, each semester has its own lead. I also teach Periodontics to second semester students, and until recently, I taught Community Oral Health.
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Can you tell us more about what takes place during the fifth semester of the Dental Hygiene program?听听
The fifth semester is students鈥� 鈥渟enior鈥� semester鈥攖hey review everything they learned throughout their program, back to what they learned first semester, twenty months ago. This last course prepares them to gain the knowledge back鈥攖opics they haven鈥檛 reviewed in a while. The first HESI exam is taken at week two as a baseline, to gauge their knowledge. Their system provides the score and a break down of scores in each category, so students can focus their studies on specific topics that they did not score at national level. I give them the report to assist them in their studies.听
We provide the students with a PowerPoint presentation, podcast, and case studies, which they do as a group project in class. I divide them into different groups and try to change the groups every session, giving them the opportunity to learn from each other.听听听
At the end of the course, we give them HESI II exam; then we compare the scores. Majority of the time, their scores improve the second time.听听听
It鈥檚 been so great to have the adaptive quizzing throughout fifth semester and HESI at the beginning and the end of fifth semester, and students have found it very helpful. The hard work is paying off鈥攐n our part and the students鈥� part. The group that passed on the first try has inspired the current group to take it very seriously. 听
Can you share a little about the cohort that just passed the exam, as a group?听听
Each class has its own culture and evolution. This group worked well together. They were extremely helpful toward each other; they studied together a lot, and they learned from each other.听听
We were all so pleased as we heard the news about their exam outcome. Many kudos were given as we heard that they passed; collective praise was given to this cohort during their pinning ceremony, and their achievements were recognized.听听听
I鈥檓 grateful to 黑料不打烊 for giving our students the opportunity to benefit from these resources that help them succeed. My colleagues and my counterparts are also implementing adaptive quizzing and HESI. We have already collaborated on this during our lead instructors鈥� meetings. It鈥檚 been so fulfilling to be involved.听听听