Students’ perspective of the teaching-learning process of oral radiology before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The SARS-Cov-2 (COVID-19) pandemic changed the educational structure of dentistry courses and highlighted the importance of online tools. Understanding students’ perception regarding these changes is essential to establishing future teaching-learning strategies to accommodate students’ needs in higher education. The aim of this study was to assess students’ perceptions of the Oral Radiology teaching- learning process before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample consisted of students (n = 111) of the 2nd , 4th and 6th semesters of the dentistry course, who answered a questionnaire with 21 items: A) Students’ demographic data (5 questions); B) Students’ teaching-learning experiences during the pre-pandemic period (8 questions); and C) Students’ teaching-learning experiences during the post-pandemic period (8 questions). Stuart-Maxwell tests revealed statistically significant differences between students’ opinions before and during the pandemic when they were asked about the structure of the Oral Radiology module (p = 0.008); their previous experience with e-learning and teaching (p < 0.001); their thoughts about the importance of e-learning in Oral Radiology (p < 0.05); and the time they spent online for academic purposes (p < 0.05). Students seem to prefer on-campus activities (before COVID-19), but the pandemic increased their awareness of the importance of e-learning, the time they spent on online studies, and their knowledge of online educational tools.

Health professions’ perspective on emergency remote education

“…The findings of this study have some implications for teaching and learning and can be used as a policy input for the improvement of remote education. While research on the effectiveness of feedback to teachers from peers or traditional supervisors has provided conflicting results (Scheeler et al, 2004), questionnaire data from student feedback, as used for our analysis, can be one important feedback source to reflect on teaching and improve on instructional practices (Yang et al, 2021;R€ ohl and G€ artner, 2021;Costa-Neri et al, 2022). The present study showed that technology has great potential to take part in stimulating learning experiences, helped highlight stress levels among students and expanded proactive strategies, including strengthening policies and practices in the online education educational platform.…”

“…, 2004), questionnaire data from student feedback, as used for our analysis, can be one important feedback source to reflect on teaching and improve on instructional practices (Yang et al. , 2021; Röhl and Gärtner, 2021; Costa-Neri et al. , 2022).…”