Performance and satisfaction during the E-learning transition in the COVID-19 pandemic among psychiatry course medical students.

Background: In the field of medical education, students faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Abrupt alterations were made in the form of preventative precautions. Virtual classes replaced onsite classes, clinical placements were canceled, and social distance interventions prevented face-to-face practical sessions. The present study aimed to assess students' performance and satisfaction before and after the transition of a psychiatry course from onsite to entirely online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A retrospective, non-clinical, and non-interventional comparative educational research study included all students registered in the psychiatric course for the academic year 2020 (pre-pandemic/onsite) and 2021 (during the pandemic/online).To assess students' satisfaction, we utilized the National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA) students' satisfaction survey used by the academic quality unit at KSU, College of Medicine.Satisfaction was assessed in six domains: course organization, learning resources, faculty experiences, clinical teaching, practical sessions, and overall satisfaction. The reliability of the questionnaire was measured using Cronbach's alpha test.To assess their performance, students' grades from both periods were obtained from the exam center. Results: A total of 193 medical students enrolled in the study; 80 received onsite learning and assessment, while another 113 received full online learning and assessment. The students' mean indicators of course satisfaction for the online courses exceeded their corresponding indicators significantly compared to the onsite courses. These indicators included students' satisfaction in terms of course organization, p < 0.001; medical learning resources, p < 0.050; faculty experience, p < 0.050; and overall course, p < 0.050. There were no significant differences regarding satisfaction in both practical sessions, p > 0.050, and clinical teaching, p > 0.050. The students' performance mean was significantly higher in the online (M = 91.76) compared to the onsite courses (M = 88.58) (p < 0.001), and the Cohen's D statistic showed there was a medium level of enhancement in students' overall grades (Cohen's d = 0.41). Conclusion: Students perceived the switch to online delivery methods very favorably. Students' satisfaction significantly improved regarding the themes of course organization, faculty experience, learning resources, and overall course satisfaction, while a similar level of adequate student satisfaction was maintained in terms of clinical teaching and practical sessions during the transition of the course to e-learning. In addition, the online course was associated with a trend toward higher students' grades. However, the assessment of the achievement of course learning outcomes and the maintenance of this positive impact warrants further investigation.

Experience of Sudden Shift from Traditional to Virtual Problem-Based Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic at a Medical College in Saudi Arabia.

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a sudden shift to online education. PBL was one of the components that was transformed to online. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of the sudden shift to virtual PBL during COVID-19 pandemic in achieving the intended learning objectives of the PBL and to explore the students' perception of the virtual versus traditional PBL. Methods: This is a retrospective study that was conducted in the college of medicine, King Saud University. We compared the perception of third year students who participated in traditional face-to-face PBL in 2019-2020 and in the virtual PBL in 2020-2021. We compared the performance of the students in the traditional face-to-face and in virtual PBL. An online survey was distributed from October to December 2021. The survey contained 7 sections. Each section included several questions comparing virtual and traditional PBL in that aspect. Results: Out of 284 third year medical students, 124 students responded with a response rate of 43.66%. More than half of the students (n = 77, 63%) felt significantly motivated to actively participate in PBL sessions in a virtual learning environment, motivated to learn and support group work and gained critical thinking skills (mean = 3.54 ± 0.12 versus 3.59 ± 0.14, p < 0.001). The majority of students (n = 82, 66%) felt significantly more satisfied about their learning during the virtual PBL versus traditional PBL (mean = 3.48 ± 0.42 versus 3.91 ± 0.59, p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the students' performance in traditional versus virtual PBL (mean = 4.77 ± 0.22 versus 4.79 ± 0.29, p = 0.2). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that students were significantly more satisfied with the experience in the virtual versus traditional PBL. Medical students' performances in virtual PBL were comparable to the traditional face-to-face approach.

The impact of mobile phone fitness applications on the level of physical fitness and psychological well-being during covid-19: The case of university students

BACKGROUND: The impact of Coronavirus Disease-19 on peoples’ life has become evident. Recently, sport activities are important in improving individual health and their well-being. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of using mobile phone fitness applications on some characteristics of physical fitness and psychological well-being of female university students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive study design was implemented using a survey which was adapted to collect data from a sample of 50 female participants within the age of 18 to 19 years. As for the results, the participants indicated that they used physical fitness application by smart phone regularly during COVID-19. RESULTS: The results also illustrate that there was a significant difference on the study variables based on the study groups and test time. The study results extend literature concerning sport activities participation and promoting positive well-being during COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSION: The study indicated a significant difference of the application on physical fitness and psychological well-being among the participants. Based on the results, the study recommended to organize several sport activities among students and encourage them to use smart phones for positive purposes. Finally, practical implications are outlined.

COVID-19 vs influenza viruses: A cockroach optimized deep neural network classification approach.

Among Coronavirus, as with many other viruses, receptor interactions are an essential determinant of species specificity, virulence, and pathogenesis. The pathogenesis of the COVID-19 depends on the virus's ability to attach to and enter into a suitable human host cell. This paper presents a cockroach optimized deep neural network to detect COVID-19 and differentiate between COVID-19 and influenza types A, B, and C. The deep network architecture is inspired using a cockroach optimization algorithm to optimize the deep neural network hyper-parameters. COVID-19 sequences are obtained from repository 2019 Novel Coronavirus Resource, and influenza A, B, and C sub-dataset are obtained from other repositories. Five hundred ninety-four unique genomes sequences are used in the training and testing process with 99% overall accuracy for the classification model.