How to make students satisfied with digital teaching? Investigative results from teaching evaluations in Gynecology and Obstetrics

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this study was to investigate whether students’ attitude towards online learning in Gynecology and Obstetrics changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. We further examined which variables impacted students’ satisfaction with digital learning.MethodsA specifically developed questionnaire was used from June 2020–July 2021 for N = 234 medical students participating in the course “Gynecology and Obstetrics” at University of Heidelberg. Thirty-five items were repeatedly applied in different cohorts to assess structure- and content-related quality of teaching. In addition, their influence on overall satisfaction with digital teaching was analyzed by applying investigative analyses like multiple regression and extreme group comparisons.ResultsEspecially items associated with content-related quality of teaching (β = 0.24), organization of teaching (β = 0.25) and subjective learning success (β = 0.27) seemed to be relevant predictors for overall satisfaction with courses. Fears and changes due to the pandemic situation also played a role for a subgroup of students. Aspects linked to technical quality of teaching, interactions with teachers and students or advantages of web-based learning appeared to play a subordinate role for overall satisfaction with digital teaching. Comparisons of ratings over time revealed that teaching evaluations almost remained the same.ConclusionOur results give several hints regarding how digital teaching should be designed and how it can be improved. Further studies are needed to validate our results and to develop methods to improve digital teaching in medicine.