Abstract
IntroductionThe coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic forced a rapid transition of in-class residency conferences to online residency conferences; little is known about learners’ perceptions of this new didactic environment. Understanding learners’ perceptions of virtual classrooms can help inform current and future best practices for online, synchronous, graduate medical education.MethodsWe surveyed emergency medicine and internal medicine residency programs at a large urban academic medical center about their perceptions of synchronous online residency conferences.ResultsResidents reported a preference for in-class interactions with peers (85%) and lecturers (80%), with 62% reporting decreased levels of engagement with lecturers during online conferences. Residents reported performing nearly twice as many non-conference-related activities (eg, email, exercise) during online conferences vs in-class conferences. Residents felt that the following methods improved engagement during online conferences: lecturers answering chat questions; small group sessions; and gamification of lectures.ConclusionSynchronous online residency conferences were associated with decreased engagement and attention by learners. Simple methods to increase interactivity may help improve the online classroom experience and cultivate novel teaching environments that better support current learning styles.
Highlights
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic forced a rapid transition of in-class residency conferences to online residency conferences; little is known about learners’ perceptions of this new didactic environment
Residents felt that the following methods improved engagement during online conferences: lecturers answering chat questions; small group sessions; and gamification of lectures
Synchronous online residency conferences were associated with decreased engagement and attention by learners
Summary
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic forced a rapid transition of in-class residency conferences to online residency conferences; little is known about learners’ perceptions of this new didactic environment. Understanding learners’ perceptions of virtual classrooms can help inform current and future best practices for online, synchronous, graduate medical education. In the interest of infection control during COVID-19, many residency programs have limited the number of congregating individuals, meaning that in-person lectures have transitioned to synchronous, online learning formats. Such educational environments typically involve learners logging into an online group meeting platform that allows for sharing of presentations as well as discussion over video. Effective web-based learning generally provides learners meaningful interactions with their professors and peers, fosters a culture of learning, and supports multiple learning styles.[4]
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