Abstract

Introduction: Education and learning have always been regarded as a reciprocal process. Olfactory stimuli can act as effective contextual cues and enhance the recall or recognition of prior information, thereby increasing the effectiveness of recent messages. Therefore, the present study was designed to compare the effect of orange and jasmine scents on the exam scores of dental students.
Methods: This clinical trial study was a within-subject type including students who had taken the oral health and community dentistry course. Twelve of these students were randomly selected as the sample. After obtaining the code of ethics, the study was conducted in theoretical oral health class 2, a one-credit course with 16 theoretical sessions. Three sessions were devoted to each scent, whereas three extra sessions served as the control bunch and were conducted without any scent. In the intervention sessions, the scent was given to the understudies, and within the taking after session, a written exam comprised of five multiple-choice questions on the taught material was administered. A score of 1 was awarded for correct answers and 0 for incorrect ones. The data from this study were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and SPSS software version 26.

Findings: Multivariate tests of variance revealed significant differences in the dependent variable across experimental conditions, indicating that the means of students' performance were not equivalent at all levels. Further analysis using repeated measures ANOVA demonstrated a significant effect of the fragrances on students’ learning outcomes, rejecting the null hypothesis. Both orange and lily fragrances were found to positively influence academic performance.

Conclusion: The findings underscore the positive impact of sensory stimuli, such as orange and lily fragrances, on students' learning outcomes. Incorporating such fragrances into educational settings can enhance the effectiveness and quality of the teaching process, fostering improved academic performance and engagement.