Perception among undergraduate medical students about online teaching in a government medical college of West Bengal

INTRODUCTION

COVID-19 pandemic had caused severe impact among all aspects of human life including medical education all over the world. With principles of social distancing and lockdown being enforced all face-to-face classes were suspended.[1] Hence, medical schools found alternative approach to teach the medical students. The current electronic learning (e-learning) was considered to be the core method of teaching curriculum during the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The impact of information technology on human life and its role in education was worth mentioning. The contribution of information technology gained momentum due to closure of educational institutions raising challenges for students’ learning.[3] E-learning is defined as the use of information technology for improving the quality of education.[4] It combines distance learning with face-to-face teaching utilizing computer-mediated communication methods.[5] But e-learning like any other method of education has advantages and disadvantages for both students and teachers. Although e-learning and other approaches that combine online components into traditional classes continues to progress rapidly still remains to improve in due course. As students’ perception and attitude are important for motivation and learning developers and deliverers of online learning should have more understanding on students perception and reaction to e-learning and how to apply those approaches effectively to improve learning.[6] In this perspective the present study was planned with the aim to study the perception of online teaching by the undergraduate medical students.

MATERIAL & METHODS

This is a descriptive study with cross-sectional design. The study was conducted on all professional MBBS students of age 18 years to 30 years of a Medical College in Kolkata for a duration of two months (August -September 2021). Study tool consisted of five sections prepared after thorough literature review. The first section had questions on the background characteristics of the students, the second section had questions on technological aspect of online learning followed by third section on medium of instruction, fourth section on advantages and disadvantages of online learning and last section on assessment via online platforms. Pretesting of the questionnaire was done by discussing with experts and necessary changes were made. Utmost care was taken to make the language as simple as possible for the respondents to avoid any ambiguity. Data was collected by administering the questionnaire through the online google forms. The google form was created with a consent form attached to it and was shared through WhatsApp. Participants were required to give their consent before proceeding to the subsequent sections. Among all the students those who submitted completely answered questionnaire were included. Students unwilling to participate were excluded. A total of 216 students participated in the study. Data were entered into Microsoft excel and SPSS version 22 was used for analysis. Frequency distribution and percentage was calculated for categorical variables while mean and standard deviation was calculated for continuous variables with normal distribution and median and inter quartile range in case of non-normal distribution. Bar diagrams were used for pictorial representation of data. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee (Ref. No. RKC/533 dated 16-11-2021)

RESULTS

Perception on advantages and disadvantages of online learning (Figure 1, Figure 2)

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FIG 1:

BAR DIAGRAM SHOWING STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ON ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE LEARNING. (N=216)

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FIG 2:

BAR DIAGRAM SHOWING STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ON DISADVANTAGES OF ONLINE LEARNING. (N=216)

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Online class can be attended from comfort zone was mentioned by 68.2% males and 69% females, more time for self-study responded by 65.1% males and 67.8% females and flexible timing by 64.3% males and 51.7% females. Other advantages mentioned were not hectic and boring, easy storage and accessibility, downloadable sessions and study materials can be studied for multiple times. Internet connectivity problem was mentioned as a disadvantage by 81.4% males and 83.9% females followed by lack of motivation to attend class by 63.6% males and 71.3% females and virtual eye impression of items shown were not at par as by in-person observation by 65.1% males and 75.9% females. Other disadvantages include multiple distractions during class, very few practical classes, difficult to clear doubts instantly, less student teacher interaction, no regular attendance, lack of routine or scheduled class and lack of regular attendance.

Experience with respect to the parameters related to lecture class and practical class (Figure 3, Figure 4)

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FIG 3:

BAR DIAGRAM SHOWING EXPERIENCE WITH RESPECT TO THE PARAMETERS RELATED TO LECTURE CLASS. (N=216)

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FIG 4:

BAR DIAGRAM SHOWING EXPERIENCE WITH RESPECT TO THE PARAMETERS RELATED TO PRACTICAL CLASS. (N=216)

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For lecture class 38% of the students were satisfied and 9.2% were very satisfied in live class, 31% were satisfied ad 8.7% were very satisfied for uploaded video of class, 20.8% were satisfied and 6.9% were very satisfied for uploaded audio of class, 46.2% were satisfied and 15.7% were very satisfied for uploaded presentation and 42.6% were satisfied and 18.5% were very satisfied for uploaded reading material. In case of practical class 31.9% were satisfied and 14.2% were very satisfied in live class, only 28.2% were satisfied and 8.7% were very satisfied with uploaded video of class, 18% were satisfied and 7.9% were very satisfied with uploaded audio of class, 35.6% satisfied and 12% very satisfied with uploaded presentation and 36.6% were satisfied and 13.9% were very satisfied with uploaded reading material.

DISCUSSION

The present study assessed the perception of online teaching among undergraduate medical students using semi-structured google questionnaire. It focused on 216 medical students of a medical college in West Bengal. Majority of the participants used mobile phones for attending online classes. Smart phones were used as the main device for online classes in studies by Gismalla et al, Kaliisa et al and Felix Bast.[7-9] Applications like Microsoft team and google meet were preferred for the online classes and Whatsapp for coordinating online classes and uploading live classes whereas studies conducted by Shree et al and Punathukandi reported Zoom as the preferred application by the students.[10,11]. In the present study the University conducted online classes primarily through Microsoft team and google meet.

Most of the participants preferred online mode with uploaded reading material for lecture classes whereas for practical classes face to face class was preferred by more than half of the participants. A similar conclusion was reached by Shree et al, Abbasi et al and Akuratiya et al.[10,12,13]

In the present study most of the participants considered face to face learning to provide better understanding of content with less distraction during class and virtual mode for recording of information, flexibility of timings, flexibility of continuation of class and face to face for interaction with faculty, interaction with peers and clearing of doubts. There is statistical association between mode of interaction with faculty and sex. Similar observations were obtained by Shree et al, Punathukandi S et al, Abbasi et al and Sindiani et al.[10,11,12,14]

The main advantages of online learning were attending from comfort zone, more time for self-study, flexible timing, not hectic and boring, easy storage and accessibility, downloadable sessions and study materials can be studied for multiple times. Shree et al found that the students perceived hours saved in travelling, more time to study, and the convenience of accessing classes from home were some of the advantages. [10] Comparable findings were observed by Felix Bast, Sindiani et al and Dost et al. [7,14,15] However, internet connectivity problem, lack of motivation to attend class, multiple distractions during class, very few practical classes, difficult to clear doubts instantly, less student teacher interaction, no regular attendance, lack of routine or scheduled class and lack of regular attendance were mentioned as disadvantages to online learning. These disadvantages were in accordance with studies conducted by Thapa et al, Sawarkar et al and Deepika Nambair.[16-18] This could be due to the immediate social isolation imposed in the pandemic, resulting in low motivation levels and other psychological problems. On the other hand, studies conducted by showed E-learning improved student's motivation and concentration levels, better rate of assignment submissions than traditional teaching and higher convenience and student attendance.[19-21]

The limitation of the study was that it was conducted among medical students only and as the questionnaire of the study was distributed via WhatsApp students having internet connection could participate in the study.

CONCLUSION

In the present study the students although preferred online mode of learning for lecture classes traditional face-to-face methods were preferred for practical classes. The study also highlighted various disadvantages of online learning. There is also a need to train the teachers about online platforms for improving the quality of teaching learning methods. The students should also be motivated and trained about online learning. Additional research like qualitative research should be done to fine out the core problems of the students to handle this new method of education to further enhance the quality of online education.