Online (remote) education and Covid-19: teachers' experience in medical education mediated by active methodologies

Abstract

Introduction: In 2020, aiming to contain the progression of the Coronavirus pandemic, social distancing was determined by reducing interactions between people. The educational institutions were closed and distance teaching-learning was applied using digital technologies for study continuity. The closing of a community university in Santa Catarina, in the medical course, implied in a disruptive situation regarding the teaching format, since they use active methodologies and these had not been applied digitally up to that moment. From these circumstances, one asks how the faculty perceives and experiences this new reality. Objective: This study aimed to understand the experiences of educators teaching from the first to the fourth year of medical school using active methodologies during the remote education activities at the emergence of the Coronavirus pandemic aiming at understanding the impacts on learning. Method: This is a field research with an exploratory objective and a quantitative-qualitative approach. This study has been analyzed by the Research Ethics Committee. The participants were contacted by electronics means and were invited to answer a two-step questionnaire using the Google Forms platform, containing objective and descriptive questions regarding their experience with remote teaching. Data analysis was performed by statistics, by thematic content analysis and by correlation analysis, and the findings were compared using the theoretical reference. Result: Twenty-nine teachers answered the survey. Most of them felt, at least, partially prepared to work in the remote education and guidance and requests for help were not related to the preparation. Facilities and weaknesses related to the technology were observed. Computers, cell phones and Google Meet were the recourses most often used. Adaptations for the materials used in face-to-face classes were necessary, but in some cases, they were not satisfactory. The pedagogical activities were accomplished within the proposed ones, but two-thirds of the teachers believed there were losses related to study quality and half of them adjusted their behavior to virtual class mediation. Conclusion: The transition to the digital teaching format constituted a challenge for the teachers. The learning process was compromised; however, benefits and potentials were observed. A change is occurring in society and digital teaching is being solidified and training is essential to support this process in active methodologies.