INVESTIGATING NURSING STUDENTS’ SATISFACTION WITH THE QUALITY OF COURSES AND VIRTUAL LEARNING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN 2020-2021

Abstract

Education in medical sciences, including nursing, has encountered numerous challenges following the worldwide outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Additionally, students’ satisfaction with the methods of instruction can be accompanied by improved learning outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the nursing students’ satisfaction with the quality of courses (SQC) and satisfaction with virtual learning (SVL) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study was conducted at a nursing school (105 nursing students) in Tehran,Iran, in the first semester of 2020-2021. The individual characteristics questionnaire, the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ), and the e-Learning Satisfaction Questionnaire (e-LSQ) were used for data collection. More than 88% of the nursing students were satisfied with the quality of the courses. The level of SVL in 57.1% of them was moderate. Among the individual variables, only the academic semester was regarded as a predictor of SQC (p=0.025). There was no significant relationship between the dimensions and the total score of CEQ with students’ academic achievement (p<0.05). Additionally, all the CEQ dimensions were significant predictors of the nursing students’ SQC (p<0.001). Given the unknown time of eradicating COVID-19, it is necessary to adopt appropriate policies and perform proper planning to continue better nursing education and increase student satisfaction.