One Academic Year Under COVID-19 Conditions: A Multicenter Evaluation Study Among Medical Students in Bavaria, Germany Students' Needs, Difficulties, and Concerns About Digital Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Background Since March 2020, COVID-19 has created a need for adaptation in many areas of life. This study explores medical students' perspectives on digital teaching under conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on expectations and concerns about digital teaching, the evaluation of specific aspects of teaching, and requests for future teaching. Methods Six German faculties have joined forces within the Bavarian network for medical education to develop and deploy a common core questionnaire. Cross-sectional surveys were conducted at the end of the summer semester 2020 and winter semester 2020/21. Medical students from different semesters participated in the online survey. Data was analyzed descriptively and/or inferentially. Item differences across semesters were examined using contingency tables and Chi² tests. Mean values were compared using the independent samples t-test; answer frequencies in retrospective and prospective concerns were compared using contingency tables and Chi2 tests with Yates’ correction. Results In the summer semester 2020, 1565 students and in winter semester 2020/21, 1727 students took part in the survey. Students' ratings on aspects of the organizational framework, for example knowledge of where to find information or the helpfulness of information, were in the upper-middle range. Of the students, 92.5% in the summer semester and 93.7% in winter semester had access to technical equipment to participate in synchronous online sessions. For some students, however, the internet connection was not stable enough to do so. Students particularly missed the personal contact with their fellow students, but also with teachers. On-site teaching was the preferred form of teaching, and there was a preference for asynchronous over synchronous digital teaching. Teaching recordings were particularly popular to complement future on-site teaching. Besides the lack of social exchange with fellow students, the students' biggest concern was the lack of possibility to perform practical trainings. Conclusions The following areas of education under COVID-19 conditions are highly important to medical students: adequacy of information sharing, integration of opportunities for exchange with fellow students and teachers, possibility to perform practical trainings. After the normalization of the pandemic situation, on-site teaching should be supplemented with blended learning concepts such as the inverted classroom model.