Students’ perception of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey study of Polish medical students

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted teaching in a variety of institutions, especially in medical schools. Electronic learning (e-learning) became the core method of teaching the curriculum during the pandemic. After eight weeks of only online learning, a survey was conducted to investigate perception of this type of learning amongst medical students.Methods A survey was conducted by distributing an online questionnaire to Polish medical students. Data gathered from the survey was analyzed with routine statistical software.Results 804 students answered the questionnaire. According to respondents’ answers, the main advantages of online learning were the ability to stay at home (69%), continuous access to online materials (69%), learning at your own pace (64%), and comfortable surroundings (54%). The majority of respondents chose lack of interactions with patients (70%) and technical problems with IT equipment (54%) as the main disadvantages. There was no statistical difference between face-to-face and online learning in terms of opinions on the ability of the learning method to increase knowledge (p=.46). E-learning was considered less effective than face-to-face learning in terms of increasing skills (p<.001) and social competences (p<.001). Students assessed that they were less active during online classes compared to traditional classes (p<.001). E-learning was rated as enjoyable by 73% of respondents.Conclusions E-learning is a powerful tool for teaching medical students. However, successful implementation of online learning into the curriculum requires a well thought-out strategy and a more active approach.

Online Learning in the Face of COVID-19 Pandemic: Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction at Chitwan Medical College of Nepal

“…3 Consequently; several medical institutions worldwide have been trying to adopt innovative technology enabled online learning as core method of teaching by making use of applications such as Zoom, Google Classroom and Google Docs among many others. 4,5 Evidences show that online learning can play the role of catalyst for active learning, enhancing creativity, motivation for learning and updating existing body of knowledge and communication. 6,7 The transformation from traditional learning to complete web-based learning, however presents several challenges to medical educators as well as the students.…”

How were the Online Classes in Undergraduate Medical Teaching during COVID Pandemic? Students’ Views of a Non-Government Medical College in Bangladesh

“…In this study, 804 students responded, 70% students felt lack of interaction with patient and 54% felt technical problem with IT equipments as the main disadvantages of e-learning. learning was considered less effective than face-to-face learning in terms of increasing skills (p<.001) 10 . The results of study done on students' perspective might be useful in planning whether adoption to online classes in COVID time might continue to persist postpandemic.…”

Academic-associated emotions before and during the COVID-19-related online semester – a longitudinal investigation of first-year medical students

“…While most academic-associated emotions did not change longitudinally, happy and proud did increase significantly during the COVID-19-related online semester. This might be because of the free allocation of time, individual adaptation to the pace of learning and the time saved by not commuting [ 13 ], [ 14 ]. This latter reason was mentioned as a form of relief in an additional scale in the questionnaire that assessed burdens and reliefs.…”

“…When asked which three emotions towards medical studies were most triggered by the COVID-19 situation, curiosity, gratitude and being afraid were most frequently mentioned. Curiosity might refer to the many unknown variables associated with the pandemic [ 15 ] and the possibility of acquiring new knowledge [ 16 ], while gratitude might relate to the benefits of the online semester described above [ 13 ], [ 14 ]. However, examinations without prior class attendance were seen by a majority of students as a burden and thus possibly an indicator of being afraid , but the data does not allow for a causal explanation and so these hypotheses should be treated as a cautious interpretation.…”