ABSTRACT
Background: Online teaching assessment was the only available choice for faculties and students during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to continue medical education. Because of this sudden transition, there were many challenges faced by both faculties and students. Aim and Objectives: To determine perception of faculty and to evaluate the feasibility of online teaching-assessment in medical education. Materials and Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted after obtaining institutional ethical approval, using pre-designed and semi-structured questionnaire administered through Google form to 101 participants who gave consent for participation. A 5-point Likert scale was used for collecting responses regarding perception and attitude. Responses were collected, tabulated and analyzed statistically in Microsoft excel by calculating percentages, mean score, and standard deviation. Chi-square test was used to analyze qualitative data. Results: Out of 101 participants, 46% wanted to restrict online teaching to the COVID era only.71% thought that they required more training, better infrastructure, and technical resources for effective online learning and assessment. 84% agreed that online teaching has a limited role in learning of practical skills which is a very important aspect of medical studies. Conclusion: Perception of faculties about online teaching-assessment is that it should be restricted to COVID era only or as a supplement with better infrastructure and training for effective learning and to enhance self-directed-learning in medical students along with routine off-line teaching-assessment.
ABSTRACT
Background: Online learning became a popular mode of education in the recent Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. For medical field in India, online mode of learning and assessment is novel. Aims and Objectives: This study aims at determining the attitude of students, identifying unacknowledged problems and their possible solutions associated with online learning, and to explore the future scope of online learning and assessment for medical education in India. Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of 199 medical students who had taken continuous six months of online learning and assessment in the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic period over varzious platforms such as Google Classroom, Zoom Meet, Cisco Webex etc. A questionnaire was made on Google form and distributed through online platforms, and students’ responses with informed consent were collected and analyzed. Responses were in form of Likert scale that ranged from “Strongly agree” to “Strongly disagree.” Results: About 41.4% of participants agreed that online learning and assessments save time and resources. About 78.3% of students agreed that technical errors make it difficult to continue online classes. About 78.3% of students agree that responsibility of learning is on students. About 77.7% of students agreed that academic integrity and honesty are vital in online assessment. Conclusion: If online classes can be improved by solving technical errors, better infrastructure, and faculty training, it may be continued as a supplement to classroom education for lectures, but not for practicals.