Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Students’ Motivation in Relation to Asynchronous Anatomy Video Lectures

Abstract

Objectives This study aimed to investigate medical students’ motivation in relation to asynchronous anatomy video lectures, carried out during COVID-19 remote teaching. Methods Repeated cross-sectional modified Instructional Materials Motivation Survey questionnaire, validated in Brazil, was applied to 255 students attending the first semester of the undergraduate medical course at the José do Rosário Vellano University, in June 2020 and November 2020. The data were analyzed considering the 95% confidence level as significant (p < 0.05). Results The overall score of motivation attributed by the students was moderate to high (3.7/5, 74%). The same occurred in relation to all dimensions of the instrument: Interest (3.6/5, 72%), Confidence (3.7/5, 74%), Attention (3.5/5, 70%) and Expectation (3.7/5, 74%). Cluster analysis showed that 78% (n = 168) of the students had moderate (72% of the maximum score) or high (86% of the maximum score) degrees of motivation. The influence of social isolation on the students’ emotional state did not affect the overall motivation scores (p = 0.217) or the dimensions of motivation: Interest (p = 0342); Confidence (p = 0.061); Attention (p = 0.625) and Expectation (p = 0.094). Conclusions The students showed high motivation for the asynchronous video lectures of human anatomy. Although the majority of students are highly affected regarding their emotional state, due to the social isolation imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, this fact did not interfere with the motivation for video lectures, probably due to the high intrinsic motivation that students in the first year have in relation to anatomy. These findings alert to the importance of asynchronous video lectures as an adequate strategy for the teaching and learning of human anatomy.