Student academic performance in non-lecture physiology topics following the abrupt change from traditional on-site teaching to online teaching during COVID-19 pandemic

• DOI: 10.1080/10872981.2022.2149292
• Publication Date: 2022-11-24T12:41:06Z
• Authors: Pachara Varachoti...; Natakorn Siritawe...; Weerapat Kositanurit; Sekh Thanprasertsuk; Maneerat Chayanup...; Thana Thongsricome; Thanapob Bumphenk...; Nipat Chuleerarux; Pasakorn Watanatada; Duangporn Werawat...; Juraiporn Somboon...; Prasong Siriviriy...; Sompol Sanguanrun...; Saknan Bongseband...; Varis Ratanasiris...; Aunchalee Jaroenl...; Chuti Burana; Pornpavee Somsiri...; Onanong Kulaputana; Kasiphak Kaikaew
• Keywords: Medicine (General); Students, Medical; LC8-6691; 4. Education; online learning; COVID-19; non-lecture based teaching; pre-clerkship education; 02 engineering and technology; Academic performance; Special aspects of education; 3. Good health; Education, Distance; R5-920; physiology; Academic Performance; 0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering; Humans; Prospective Studies; Pandemics; Research Article; Education, Medical, Undergraduate

During the COVID-19 pandemic, pre-clerkship medical education, including all physiology classes, was obliged to change to online teaching due to limitations of on-site (face-to-face) classes. However, the effectiveness of online teaching in non-lecture physiology topics during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been thoroughly investigated.We conducted a prospective study to evaluate the students' academic achievement and opinions on online teaching during the COVID-19 academic year. Academic achievement of 312 students in the COVID-19 year was compared with that of 299 students in the pre-COVID-19 year. Student opinions regarding social interactions and the preferred learning method were also collected.We found that student academic achievement in the non-lecture physiology topics, assessed by summative scores, was 4.80±0.92 percent higher in the pre-COVID-19 year than in the COVID-19 year (P < 0.01, Cohen's d = 0.42). Students rated that online classes tended to reduce their interactions with peers and teachers; however, students preferred online learning over traditional on-site learning.This study pointed out that students' academic performance related to the physiology topics taught by online non-lecture methods during the COVID-19 pandemic was lower than their performance when the topics were taught by the traditional (on-site) methods, although students reported that they preferred the online teaching. Hence, we suggest that medical teachers should deliberately plan and utilise a variety of tools and techniques when developing online non-lecture classes to preserve the interactivity of the classes, which might overcome this gap in students' academic performance.