Introducing virtual classrooms for undergraduate physiology teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic: Acceptance by students and subjective impact on learning.

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic and complete lockdowns brought about major changes in the education system. There was a sudden obligatory shift toward the utilization of digital resources for teaching and learning purposes in those critical times. Medical education, specifically physiology teaching comprises much of laboratory works and hands-on trainings; such curriculums are very difficult to implement in the virtual mode. The present study was designed to evaluate and validate the efficiency and impact of online physiology teaching through a virtual classroom system in a class of 83 first year undergraduate MBBS students. Questions based on the availability and use of technology, ease and effectiveness, the adeptness of faculty, and learning outcomes were circulated among the undergraduate MBBS students of a tertiary medical college and hospital via digital mode and responses were recorded and analysed. Validation through principal components and factor analysis had showed that the online teaching is not much effective and has a limited application in the physiology education of undergraduate MBBS students. Our study revealed that virtual physiology teaching to undergraduate medical students during COVID-19 pandemic had a moderate level of effectiveness.