Siddiqui AA, Zain Ul Abideen M, Fatima S, Talal Khan M, Gillani SW, Alrefai ZA, Waqar Hussain M, Rathore HA. Students' Perception of Online Versus Face-to-Face Learning: What Do the Healthcare Teachers Have to Know?
Cureus 2024;
16:e54217. [PMID:
38500946 PMCID:
PMC10948083 DOI:
10.7759/cureus.54217]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024] Open
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions confronted the possibility of complete closure and took countermeasures by adapting e-learning platforms. The present cross-sectional study quantified the impact of the pandemic on medical education using a validated and reliable tool. The tool was used to explore the perceptions of 270 healthcare students about e-learning in comparison to traditional learning systems. Inferential statistics were employed using Pearson's chi-squared test. It was found that e-learning was advantageous because of its location flexibility (46.1%) and the ease of access to study materials (46.5%). However, in-person learning was found to lead to an increase in knowledge (44.9%), clinical skills (52.7%), and social competencies (52.7%). The study concluded that while e-learning offers flexibility, traditional face-to-face teaching is deemed more effective for skill development and social interaction. Hence, e-learning should complement rather than replace traditional methods due to limitations in replicating clinical environments.
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