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Background: Blended learning is growing in popularity particularly following the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic. One of the fields that the pandemic has substantially affected is dental education. Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the online dental education. Students' perceptions and experiences of blended learning were also investigated. Methods: A 28-question online survey was designed to gauge students' perceptions of the effect of blended learning on their academic performance. Results: 314 participants in preclinical and clinical years completed the questionnaire (223 females and 91 males). The majority of students (89%) believed that clinical and practical courses cannot be given by the internet. In terms of students' opinion in the assessment process, more females (65.8%) preferred traditional exams than males (50.5%) (p < 0.05). Most clinical students (83%) preferred a combination of online and traditional teaching compared to 72% of preclinical students (p < 0.05). Clinical year students were more willing to communicate electronically with their classmates and instructors. The majority of dental students (65%) reported that future dental courses should be blended. Conclusions: In the pandemic era, blended learning, should become the preferred method of education whereby theoretical knowledge is delivered through online tutorials and clinical training is resumed on-site, to ensure competency of dental graduates while maintaining safety of the dental team. Current facilities and course designs should be improved in order to improve students' experiences with blended learning.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused various psychological problems worldwide, such as fear, anxiety, and depression. Since the fear of the pandemic can adversely affect disease management, it must be measured appropriately. This study aims to verify the validity and reliability of the Arabic version of FCV-19S and its relation to future anxiety in Jordanians. This cross-sectional study was conducted from September 8 to 28, 2020 on a sample of 760 Jordanian participants. According to the results, the seven items of the scale were loaded on one component, and they explained 66.3% of the total variance. Both the classical test theory and the item response theory (Rasch model) were used to evaluate the psychometric properties of the fear of COVID-19 scale items. The internal consistency (α) was0.91. The concurrent validity was supported by the future anxiety scale (r = 0.87).The Rasch model offered good psychometric properties for the Jordanian version of the FCV-19S. The measurement invariance showed no differences concerning gender or age. The Jordanian FCV-19S was thus found to be an effective screening scale for assessing the fear of COVID-19 among the adult Jordanian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]