Assessing online learning readiness and perceived stress among first year medical students during COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-country study

The temporary shutdown of educational institutes due to COVID -19 lockdown has led to the transformation of face to face classroom teaching to virtual online learning. The present study is aimed to evaluate the challenges faced by the first year medical students. After taking informed consent, a self administered questionnaire with 15 questions was given in google form. 148 students (62 boys, 86 girls) between the age group 17-23 years participated in the study. The answers were represented graphically. The results were analysed and compared with other studies. 84.3% students opined that they learnt the concepts better by hands on exposure than online teaching. Only 10.7% students replied that online tasks improve their self-discipline. 78.6% answered that the teacher was available when they needed help. 46% stated that the teacher’s feedback helped them in online learning. 40% accepted the need for online teaching to be combined with the traditional teaching, post COVID in their curriculum. The results were similar to the other studies when compared. Most of them experienced the technical glitches, connectivity issues, suspended video streaming etc. that interrupted their online learning. The present study concludes that the medical students prefer face to face traditional classroom teaching than online teaching amidst advanced technology.

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Perception of medical students about online learning in the COVID-19 era

Biomedicine ◽

10.51248/.v41i1.549 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 41 (1) ◽

pp. 139-145

Author(s):

Kalpana Ramachandran ◽

Robert Dinesh Kumar

Keyword(s):

Online Learning ◽

Medical Students ◽

Online Education ◽

Online Teaching ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

P Value ◽

First Year ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Internet Connectivity ◽

First Year Medical Students

Introduction and Aim: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a disruption in the academic schedule. As UNESCO observes an 87% interruption in student learning across the globe, it is undeniable that e-learning would have a major role to play in the future and both teachers and learners are getting accustomed to this ‘New Normalcy’. This survey analyses the perception of medical first-year students about online learning in the COVID-19 era. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive questionnaire based study was done and first year medical students were asked to respond. The respondents were asked to answer the questions in Likert-scale, from 1-5. Statistical analysis was done and Test for one proportion was calculated using ‘z’ test. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total of 122 first year medical students responded to the survey. More than two-thirds of the respondents were females (67%). About 78% of respondents find online learning interesting and enjoyable. More than 80% of students found online education very satisfactory in all aspects. Problems with internet connectivity was the principal challenge faced by the students during online learning. An overwhelming 70% of students felt online teaching to be very beneficial. Conclusion: The pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to the academic schedule. Although many challenges were faced by the teachers and learners, internet connectivity continued to be a major problem in online education. It is the duty of every educationist to ensure an uninterrupted, continuous and an effective process of teaching and learning.

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