Evaluating Online Learning Strategy and Assessment Methods in the Course of Human Biology for the Preparatory Year Medical Students During COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown

Abstract

Since the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 crisis, there has been insufficient reporting regarding the evaluation of students’ performance in biology courses in medical schools. This study is designed to evaluate the online learning strategy by examining its effects on preparatory medical students’ performance. The target population included preparatory year medical students (n = 115) at Fakeeh College for Medical Sciences in Saudi Arabia. The human biology course (15 weeks) was taught using two different teaching strategies due to the lockdown and home-schooling decision. The first eight weeks were conducted on campus and the remaining seven weeks were conducted using online interactive lectures and virtual classrooms via Blackboard platform. The latter is the formal platform used by the college for online teaching. Continuous and final assessment results were used to assess student performance and to evaluate the effects of online learning on students’ knowledge and skills. The results of the final examinations demonstrated a significant increase (p < 0.05) in student performance. The mean of the students’ scores increased by 1.28 in the final examinations compared to the midterm examinations for female students (n = 73). Similarly, there was a significant increase in the male students’ scores in the final examinations. The mean increased by 1.24 in the final compared to the midterm examination for male students (n = 42). Online assessment tools are proved to be successful assessment methods and could provide additional non-traditional methods for students’ performance evaluation. Furthermore, with online learning and assessment, students’ performance is enhanced.