English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Due to Covid-19 lockdown initiated by the Government, the teaching was transformed to an online sphere. Reflection from students was quite essential for advancement in newer platforms. Thus, perception of various online teachinglearning methods among medical students were assessed. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study conducted among phase-1 MBBS students of Government Medical College, Thrissur. This study was done to analyse medical student’s perceptions on four methods of online classes which included live online lectures, assignments, sending PowerPoint presentations and pre-recorded videos. All statistical data was analysed using SPSS software version 16. Continuous variables was expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Difference between the groups were analysed by simple ANOVA but the subgroup analysis in each variable was done by post hoc analysis with Bonferroni test. The level of significance was kept at 5%. RESULTS When different variables were analysed by anova, it was found out that emphasizing important aspects of topics, describing the contents in a logical sequence and interaction was significantly better in live online lectures. Coverage of learning objectives and description of concepts was significantly better in narrative PowerPoint presentation. Likewise, it significantly helped them to prepare notes for examination. Live online lectures effectively used audio-visual aids and it has aroused interest in the subject. Live online lecture was found to be the best single method as compared to the other three when all ten variables were analysed conjointly. CONCLUSIONS The preferred method for online teaching for phase-1 medical students was online lectures when all variables were analysed. Important aspects of topics were emphasized, the contents were discovered in a logical sequence, the audio-visuals were used effectively, and interest was aroused in topics through live online lectures. All the learning objectives were covered and described very clearly and note preparation was easy in PowerPoint presentation. KEYWORDS Covid-19 Lockdown, Perception, Live Online Lectures, Pre-Recorded Videos, Assignments, Interaction, Learning Objectives, Audio Visual Aids