Abstract: Objective The study is to explore the combination of maker education and flipped classrooms in undergraduate teaching of orthodontics. Methods 90 senior five-year dental program students from 2015 grade in Sun Yat-sen University were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group had classes in a way of maker education combined with flipped classrooms, while the control group was taught by the traditional methods. The learning outcomes between two groups were assessed by the results of test scores and questionnaire surveys. Results The test scores of experimental group in case analysis and clinical practice are significantly higher than those in the control group(7.50 ± 1.57 vs 5.60 ± 1.75)、(7.45 ± 1.53 vs 6.20 ± 1.47), which is statistically significant (all P<0.05). The feedbacks showed that most experimental group students agreed with that the combination of maker education and flipped classrooms could motivate students self-learning capacity and clinical practical competence. Conclusions The teaching mode of maker education combined with flipped classrooms helps undergraduates to enhance interest in orthodontics develop capacity of clinical reasoning and skill.

Key words: Maker education, Flipped classrooms, Orthodontics, Teaching model