Changes in academic performance in the online, integrated system-based curriculum implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic in a medical school in Korea

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to examine how students' academic performance changed, based on the test results of 16 integrated courses conducted in 3 semesters at Hanyang University College of Medicine that underwent a transition to online learning after COVID-19 in Korea. Methods: For the 16 required courses that included an integrated system-based curriculum that runs for t3 semesters, the major examination's raw scores were collected for each student. Percent-correct scores were used in the subsequent analysis. We used a t-test to compare grades between 2019 and 2020, and Cohen's D was calculated as a measure of effect size. The correlation of scores between courses was calculated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient.Results: There was a significant decrease in scores in 2020 for 10 courses (62.5%). While most of the integrated system-based curriculum test scores showed strong correlation, with a coefficient of 0.6 or higher in both 2019 and 2020, the correlation coefficient was generally higher in 2020. When students were divided into low, middle, and high achiever groups, low achievers consistently showed declining test scores in all three semesters. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the transition to online classes due to COVID-19 has led to an overall decline in academic performance. This overall decline, which may occur when the curriculum is centered on recorded lectures, needs to be addressed. Further, medical schools need to consider establishing a support system for the academic development of low achievers.

The impact of asynchronous online anatomy teaching and smaller learning groups in the anatomy laboratory on medical students’ performance during the Covid‐19 pandemic

“…However, a previous study documented that the type II error rate was increased after Bonferroni correction (Perneger, 1998 ). To avoid the risk of type I and type II errors, the Cohen’s d value was presented accompanied with the P ‐value in the current study (Kim et al, 2021b ). Third, the questionnaire was designed without balancing positive and negative indicators, which may create a bias for its interpretation.…”

“…However, a previous study documented that the type II error rate was increased after Bonferroni correction (Perneger, 1998). To avoid the risk of type I and type II errors, the Cohen's d value was presented accompanied with the P-value in the current study (Kim et al, 2021b).…”

Can Orthopedic Surgery be taught online? A comparative analysis of medical students’ academic performance in online versus in- person class teaching

“…16 However, a study in Korea that looked at the academic performance of students in 19 different courses found that the average test scores decreased for most online courses. 17 Various reasons were suggested for this decline, such as the sudden transition to online classes, the fact that most of the faculty did not have proper training for online classes, and the lack of technical support. 17 Moreover, another study showed that even though students had more time to study when courses were delivered online, the majority of them preferred traditional teaching for better understanding of the course materials and topics.…”

Educational impact of an active learning session with 6-lead mobile electrocardiography on medical students’ knowledge of cardiovascular physiology during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States: a survey-based observational study

“…Additionally, students felt that the in-person session was preferable over a hypothetical virtual session to interact with their classmates and learn essential ECG concepts, supporting the idea that medical students continue to prefer learning new material in an in-person setting [ 13 ]. Furthermore, previous studies demonstrate a decline in student performance with the shift to virtual learning during the pandemic, thus emphasizing the importance of safe and supportive in-person learning sessions in pre-clerkship medical training [ 14 , 15 ].…”