فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

BACKGROUND: In the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the closure of educational institutionshas imposed a situation of potential gap in learning. Since training of medical and paramedicalstudents is vital in creation of our army of these frontline health‑care workers, this study was aimedat comparing the asynchronous and synchronous methods of online teaching for imparting trainingto students of medical laboratory technology (MLT).MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross‑sectional study included 33 students of the 1st‑year batchof MLT course at a tertiary level hospital. Ten lectures each from the subject of biomedical statisticswere delivered through asynchronous (lecture shared on WhatsApp group) and synchronous (onlinelive lecture) methods followed by a brief examination for each topic. A short survey was designed toassess the students’ perception of clarity of concepts, confidence of solving the examination, andtheir preference for one of these methods. Appropriate statistical tests were applied to the data.RESULTS: Synchronous method of online teaching was preferred by majority of thestudents (P < 0.001). Students’ clarity in understanding of the concepts (P < 0.001) and confidenceof the ability to solve examination questions (P < 0.05) was higher after synchronous teaching. Theexamination scores after synchronous online teaching were significantly higher (P = 0.0156) thanthose for topics covered through asynchronous method.CONCLUSION: Online teaching, especially the synchronous method, offers an opportunity ofcontinuum of training during crisis situations such as the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. Thewide availability of internet services and the ever‑changing global situation mandates readiness forthis modality of teaching, both for the teachers and the students.