Effect of Distant Learning and Face-To-Face Learning on Student Performance and Perception in the Psychiatric Undergraduate Educational Module at King Abdulaziz University

Abstract

Background: The outbreak of the COVID-19 global health crisis
raised significant challenges in medical education due to the
disruption of academic institutions' educational systems. The
emergency lockdown instigated the closure of conventional
educational activities and encouraged electronic portal learning
as an alternative strategy. Tremendous efforts have been made
by the dedicated and determined faculty of medicine at King
Abdulaziz University to include distance learning as part of the
educational process and face-to-face learning for the past few
years. Considering the pandemic scenario, many policies were
postulated at King Abdulaziz University to generate flexible,
convenient, standardized, and modern modes of education.
Therefore, this study examined students' perception of distance
learning and how teaching methods and curriculum design
affect students’ performance.
Method: This cross-sectional survey study enrolled a total of 126
students who participated in this study from January 2020 to
April 2020.
Results: The results showed higher mean total satisfaction in
the E-learning group compared to face-to-face learning with
no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05). Comparison
between E-learning and face-to-face learning regarding course
objectives showed a highly statistically significant difference
(p < 0.05). The teacher feedback provided during the course
also showed statistically significantly improved results in the
E-learning group (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: It is recommended that both types of learning be
blended as a "blended learning or hybrid learning” model, which
will have advantages for both types of learning systems and can
solve problems that may arise by using only one kind of learning.
This field requires more research, especially longitudinal studies,
to determine long-term effectiveness