Students’ feedback about the course, “Physical Therapy of Orthopedic Diseases” with full- time online teaching during the last stage of the pandemic

Abstract

Background As the pandemic entered its final stages at the end of 2022, students worldwide have developed the ability to adapt to online teaching. Teachers and students also quickly adapted to changes in teaching approaches (online, offline, or mixed) during this period. However, numerous studies continue to demonstrate the need for rigorous planning to meet the challenges in designing hands-on practical training. Therefore, the primary goal of this research was to examine student satisfaction and feedback towards online professional physical therapy course instruction in the post-pandemic period. Methods From October 2022 to January 2023, 61 physical therapy students from Guangzhou Medical University studied Physical Therapy of Orthopedic Diseases through a full online teaching program, which covers musculoskeletal system diseases of the cervical spine and upper limbs with an emphasis on clinical practice. A self-administered questionnaire was used to evaluate student satisfaction with course content and behaviour changes before and after online teaching. The interviews were used to further explore student feedback and suggestions on the theoretical and practical aspects of online teaching. Results The questionnaire results showed no statistical difference between the total scores before and after online courses, but the overall trend in students’ attitude was negative. After online courses, the suitability of the curriculum settings and satisfaction with teaching strategies dropped significantly, both of which were also the most unsatisfactory aspects.Surprisingly, the majority of students believed that the teachers still maintain a passion for online teaching, and a statistical difference between the scores before the online teaching sessions was found. The interview results showed that students mostly reflected the issue of a lack of practical online operating settings and offline hands-on practice interaction feedback. Students agreed that online feedback and self-discipline are critical for academic performance. Conclusion According to research, when compared with traditional face-to-face teaching, online teaching has a negative impact on this course, particularly in terms of practical training for which online teaching is not ideal. This study further illustrates that not all online teaching is suitable for the development of skills training.