A Study on Hurdles Faced by Medical Students during e-Learning Amid COVID-19 Pandemic: An online questionnaire-based survey

ABSTRACT

Introduction: In order to halt the progression of COVID-19, governments of many countries including India implemented national lockdown. In view of the sudden closure of educational institutions, remote teaching was implemented with the help of online learning or E-learning. Thus, the aim of the study was assessing the attitudes and perceptions of MBBS students regarding the effectiveness of e-learning and the impact of COVID-19 on the student’s mental wellbeing and learning. Methods: The survey instrument was a self-administered questionnaire consisting of 17 close ended questions and 3 open ended question. It has 3 sociodemographic questions, 13 questions assessing their attitudes and perceptions regarding the effectiveness of e-learning and 4 questions investigating the impact of COVID-19 on the student’s mental wellbeing and learning. The data obtained was analyzed using SPSS (version 20). Results: A total of 404 undergraduate students studying in FMHS, SGT University, Gurugram participated in the survey. A major part of the students (57.1%) was using their Mobile phones for e-learning followed by 24.6% using their Personal computer or Laptop, 12% were using combination of these devices and 6.3% using tablets. Due to inconsistent internet connection, most of the students (71.5%) were facing challenges. 64.9% of the respondents faced distraction during the class such as lack of audio clarity, internet connection problems, lack of environment, concentration issues, notifications and social media, student teacher interactions, practical aspect not covered and lack of physical interaction with the teacher. The continuous screen time posed a major problem for students who suffered from strain in the eyes (58.3%), headache (18.7%), neck pain (8.8%), back pain (6.3%) or all of the above problems (7.7%). Thus, 84.1% of the undergraduate students preferred conventional Classroom learning to e-learning. Conclusions: Implementation of strict social distancing and lockdown in COVID-19 era, has mandated the pedagogy of remote learning which remains the only viable option for teaching and learning in these difficult times. The students should be advised to follow good ergonomic practices to maintain their ocular health and should be motivated to enhance their mental well-being and learning amid COVID-19 pandemic.