JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

COVID-19’s high transmissibility led to gathering restrictions where dental schools were positioned to experience disruptions due to restrictions on attending in-person lectures as well as limitations placed on applied preclinical and clinical activities. Students not only had to rapidly switch to online technology based-learning (TB-learning) modules but also experienced high levels of social isolation and anxiety around the virus transmission.

Objective:

This study aims to evaluate the preclinical students' perception of switching TB-learning modules amidst COVID-19, identifying which module parameters were associated with strong student outcomes.

Methods:

A online survey of 39 Likert scale questions was delivered to preclinical dental students (Western University) to evaluate students' perceptions concerning TB-learning, fear amidst COVID-19 and the impact on their preclinical training. A Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was determined to estimate the relationship between two variables in isolation (P<.01). An ordinal regression analysis was performed on variables of interest to determine how module variables (typically within the instructor's control) influenced the student outcomes (P <.05).

Results:

The response rate was 30% (n=39). TB-learning was considered vital (87.2%) as the students’ education improved (46.2%). However, 53.8% of students showed increased difficulties in retaining, visualizing, or understanding the materials using TB-learning, and 64.1% found it more difficult to concentrate than in in-person classes. 79.5% of students showed different levels of agreement to feeling fatigued from TB-learning. Through Spearman's rho correlation analysis, quality of questions in quizzes (rs=0.514, P <.001), relevant handouts (rs=0.729, P <.001), and high-quality audiovisuals (rs=0.585, P <.001) were positively correlated with students responding that the modules were useful to preclinical training. Similarly, good organization (rs=0.512, P <.001), high-quality questions in quizzes (rs=0.431, P =.013), and relevant handouts (rs=0.551, P <.001) were positively correlated with online classes as an effective way to learn. 91.6% of the students agreed that Covid-19 was a dangerous disease, whereas 54% showed different levels of agreement that they were afraid to be infected personally, and 69% feared passing Covid-19 along to family and friends. 82% of the students showed that Covid-19 impacted their overall learning process and had a negative impact on their practical preclinical training (79.5%).

Conclusions:

The students found a difference between TB-learning and face-to-face learning methods, where the students perceived fatigue towards the online method with difficulty concentrating and visualizing the subject. Moreover, there was a consensus that COVID-19 itself affected the students’ overall learning process and preclinical training. As dental schools continue implementing TB-learning into their curriculum, this investigation identifies the students' struggles with the paradigm shift. In an effort to improve TB-learning, this work highlights four variables (organization, quizzes, quality handouts, and quality audiovisuals) within the control of instructors that can help improve content deliverance, improving the students' experience.