Marsha A. Cunningham-Ford

Ms. Cunningham joined the University of Iowa College of Dentistry in 1979. She is an associate professor in the Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry.
For first-year dental students, Ms. Cunningham is course director for two preventive dentistry courses that introduce basic patient assessment. She also provides clinical supervision in the second-year preventive dentistry clinic. At the graduate level, she directs a teaching methods and evaluation course and a also a clinical teaching practicum.
Ms. Cunningham participates in the Faculty General Dental Practice in the College of Dentistry Clinics.
1: Schneider GB, Cunningham-Ford MA, Johnsen DC, Eckert ML, Mulder M. Outcomes mapping: a method for dental schools to coordinate learning and assessment based on desired characteristics of a graduate. J Dent Educ. 2014 Sep;78(9):1268-78. PubMed PMID: 25179923.
2: Guzman-Armstrong S, Warren JJ, Cunningham-Ford MA, von Bergmann H, Johnsen DC. Concepts in critical thinking applied to caries risk assessment in dental education. J Dent Educ. 2014 Jun;78(6):914-20. PubMed PMID: 24882777.
3: Marshall TA, Straub-Morarend CL, Handoo N, Solow CM, Cunningham-Ford MA, Finkelstein MW. Integrating critical thinking and evidence-based dentistry across a four-year dental curriculum: a model for independent learning. J Dent Educ. 2014 Mar;78(3):359-67. PubMed PMID: 24609338.
4: Johnsen DC, Lipp MJ, Finkelstein MW, Cunningham-Ford MA. Guiding dental student learning and assessing performance in critical thinking with analysis of emerging strategies. J Dent Educ. 2012 Dec;76(12):1548-58. Review. PubMed PMID: 23225674.
5: Amer RS, Denehy GE, Cobb DS, Dawson DV, Cunningham-Ford MA, Bergeron C. Development and evaluation of an interactive dental video game to teach dentin bonding. J Dent Educ. 2011 Jun;75(6):823-31. PubMed PMID: 21642529.
6: Johnsen DC, Marshall TA, Finkelstein MW, Cunningham-Ford MA, Straub-Morarend CL, Holmes DC, Armstrong SR, Aquilino SA, Sharp HM, Solow CM, McQuistan MR. A model for overview of student learning: a matrix of educational outcomes versus methodologies. J Dent Educ. 2011 Feb;75(2):160-8. PubMed PMID: 21293038.
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Ms. Cunningham is an honorary member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon Honor Dental Society. She has received multiple teaching awards: the 2003 Excellence in Teaching Award from the American Dental Education Association, the James H. McLeran Faculty Award, and the 2006 Dental Educator of the Year Award from the Iowa Dental Alumni Association. In 2012, Ms. Cunningham was elected to a three-year term as an officer in the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Section on Community & Preventive Dentistry. She was the 1999 recipient of the Special Merit Award from the American Association of Public Health Dentistry. Ms. Cunningham chairs the Dental Curriculum Committee and serves as the College of Dentistry's representative on the University of Iowa Academic Technology Advisory Council (ATAC). She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Iowa Dental Alumni Association.