Attitude and perceptions regarding online teaching in dental undergraduate program during COVID‑19 pandemic: A mixed method study
نویسندگان
1 Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Amrita School of Dentistry Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS, Kochi, Kerala, India
2 Department of Public Health Dentistry, Amrita School of Dentistry Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS, Kochi, Kerala, India
3 Department of Public Health Dentistry, Amrita School of Dentistry Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS, Kochi, Kerala, India
4 Department of Public Health Dentistry, Amrita School of Dentistry Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS, Kochi, Kerala, India
5 Department of Public Health Dentistry, Amrita School of Dentistry Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS, Kochi, Kerala, India
6 Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Amrita School of Dentistry Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS, Kochi, Kerala, India
doi
چکیده
BACKGROUND: Transformation of education to virtual mode during COVID‑19 pandemic was amajor challenge for a clinical specialty like dentistry.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sequential explanatory mixed method was adopted with quantitativedominant design. A self‑reported questionnaire on attitude and perceptions toward online learningwere distributed among dental undergraduate students. The qualitative arm explored perceptions ofonline teaching among various stakeholders and thematic content analysis was performed.RESULTS: A total of 141 responses were obtained, about 21% of them felt online classes to behighly useful and 78% felt it was moderately useful. About 80% of the students were satisfied withthe online education. About 40% of participants felt internet connectivity was a frequent issue. Thequalitative data analysis revealed five emergent themes of lecture content and delivery, instructionalcontrol, resource management, interaction, and evaluation exploring the perceptions of variousstakeholders toward online learning and provided several insights.CONCLUSION: Though online education cannot be compared to traditional education in a clinicalspecialty like dentistry, it does have its advantages and a portion of student learning can be conductedthrough this mode.
