Academic performance and dental student satisfaction with emergency remote teaching of endodontics during COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Introduction: The study aimed to evaluate the consequences of introducing online modalities for emergency remote teaching during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, on students' learning satisfaction in the endodontic preclinical course and their performance in the summative examination. Materials and Methods: On completion of the preclinical endodontic course, 39 students were E-mailed an online questionnaire investigating their overall satisfaction with online modalities used for emergency remote teaching. They were requested to evaluate their satisfaction with three methods of lecture delivery: conventional face to face, online synchronized and online asynchronized, in terms of comprehension and retention of knowledge, communication with the lecturer, time convenience, Internet or technical support, transportation for face-to-face lectures, and stress-free learning. Students' scores were compared to scores of students who took the course before the pandemic and received only conventional face-to-face teaching. Data were statistically analyzed. Results: A response rate of 100% showed that 87% of the students were satisfied with the online modalities used for emergency remote teaching. Students were significantly less satisfied with online-asynchronized lectures in terms of communication with the lecturer (P Conclusion: Dental students were satisfied with online modalities used for emergency remote teaching in the preclinical endodontic course and their academic performance was not adversely affected.