Postgraduate students’ experiences with online and in-person counsellor education in Taiwan and Canada: a cross-country comparison

<em>This paper examines the relationship between undergraduate college students’ mix of online and in-person classes on their well-being and mental health. We first examine the research on consumer well-being and Quality of Social Functioning and then apply these streams of research to our pilot study, an online survey. In our pilot study, we find some statistical differences in students’ well-being, depending on whether they take predominantly in-person or online classes. Students who take about one half of their classes online are more satisfied with their academic performance than those who take all or mostly in-person classes. Those who take all or most in-person classes are more satisfied with their life at home than those who take all or most online. Additionally, students who take all or most in-person classes are more likely to agree that their professors care about them as a person. Ideas for future research are discussed, including running a parallel survey which uses college professors as respondents. </em>

This study explored the lived experiences of boredom in online and in-person English classes. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 48 secondary-school students from Iran. The results of thematic analysis using MAXQDA (version 2022) revealed that (1) internet connection problems, task difficulty and overload, and boring learning environment were the main sources of boredom in online classes; (2) ineffective teaching methodology, tedious materials, and low teacher enthusiasm were the key antecedents of boredom in conventional in-person classes; (3) improving internet connection, using engaging materials, increasing teacher care, and creating a motivating learning environment were among the students’ suggestions to reduce boredom in online classes; and (4) more teacher support and maintaining an enjoyable atmosphere were the participants’ solutions for in-person classes. The implications of the study for teachers, materials designers, and policymakers are discussed.

P091 Assessing Level of Interest in In-person and Virtual Nutrition Education Among SNAP-Ed Eligible Utahns

College students in the US have been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to increased rates of depression and anxiety, college students have faced unprecedented stressors, such as geographic relocation and abrupt conversion from in-person classes to online classes. To study the association between course delivery model and psychological distress among US college students. This cross-sectional analysis used national data from the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment III data set. Data were gathered from a web-based survey administered from January to early June 2021 to full-time US college students attending 4-year programs. Course delivery model was self-reported. Psychological distress was measured using the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress. This study evaluated 59 250 full-time undergraduate students (68.1% women; 51.5% White students; mean [SD] age, 21.2 [4.3] years); 3.5% attended fully in-person classes, 61.2% attended fully online classes, and 35.3% attended a mixed format of in-person and online classes. Students who attended classes fully online reported higher levels of psychological distress than those who attended a mix of online and in-person classes (b = 0.76 [99% CI, 0.64-0.88]; P < .001). This association remained significant after controlling for geographic region, year in school, gender, race and ethnicity, food security, current anxiety and/or depressive disorders, COVID-19 concerns, and residence (living on campus, off campus with family, or other off-campus arrangements) (b = 0.18 [99% CI, 0.04-0.31]; P = .001), as well as time spent socializing with friends (b = 0.13 [99% CI, 0.002-0.26]; P = .009). The findings of this study suggest that mental health professionals may wish to consider the association of course delivery models with mental health outcomes when working with college students. Colleges should be aware of the mental health burden associated with attending fully online classes and consider possible in-person components and supports for students.

Flipping the classroom: A comparative analysis of in-person versus online learning in scabies education for medical students

Background The rapid transition from in-person to online delivery of medical curriculum has facilitated the continuation of medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst active learning approaches, including Team-Based Learning (TBL), are generally more supportive of the learner’s needs during such transition, it remains elusive how different learning environments affect a learner’s motivation, engagement, and perceived learning over a prolonged period. We leveraged on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and key learners’ characteristics to explore the levels of student’s engagement and perceived learning in two TBL learning environments, online and in-person, over an extended period. We hypothesize that students’ self-reported perceptions of engagement and learning will be lower in online compared to in-person TBL classes. Methods This is a mixed methods study with 49 preclinical graduate medical students completing the same questionnaire twice for each learning environment, online TBL and in-person TBL, over an eight-month period. Quantitative data were collected on learners’ characteristics, basic psychological needs satisfaction, motivation, student’s engagement and perceived learning. Additionally, the final questionnaire also explored the participants’ perception on which learning environment better supported their learning. Results We found that autonomy support, perceived competence and needs satisfaction, and perceived learning were higher in-person than online. Additionally, most learners felt that in-person TBL was better for learning, as the concepts of learning space and the community of practice were mediated by being in-person. Conclusions TBL, being an active instructional method, can maintain students’ engagement because it supports many aspects of SDT constructs and perceived learning. However, online TBL is unable to fully support the students’ needs and perceived learning. Hence, we strongly advocate for any in-person opportunities to be included in a course, as in-person classes best support students’ engagement and perceived learning.

Background: The rapid transition to online delivery of medical curriculum has facilitated the continuation of medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst active learning approaches, including Team-Based Learning (TBL), are generally more supportive of the learner’s needs during such transition, it remains elusive how different learning environments affect a learner’s motivation, engagement, and perceived learning over a prolonged period. We leveraged on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and key learners’ characteristics to explore the levels of student’s engagement and perceived learning in two TBL learning environments, online and in-person, over an extended period. We hypothesize that students’ self-reported perceptions of engagement and learning will be lower in online compared to in-person TBL classes. Methods: This is a mixed methods study with 49 preclinical graduate medical students completing the same questionnaire twice for each learning environment, online TBL and in-person TBL, over an eight-month period. Quantitative data were collected on learners’ characteristics, basic psychological needs satisfaction, motivation, student’s engagement and perceived learning. The final questionnaire also explored participants’ perception on which learning environment better supported their learning. Results: We found that autonomy support, perceived competence and needs satisfaction, and perceived learning were higher in-person than online. Additionally, most learners felt that in-person TBL was better for learning, as the concepts of learning space and the community of practice were mediated by being in-person. Conclusions: TBL, being an active instructional method, can maintain students’ engagement because it supports many aspects of SDT constructs and perceived learning. However, online TBL is unable to fully support the students’ needs and perceived learning. Hence, we strongly advocate for any in-person opportunities to be included in a course, as in-person classes best supports students’ engagement and perceived learning.

Purpose: Mental health care is limited worldwide, especially for children and adolescents. Moreover, there are barriers to using mental health services for children and adolescents, including a shortage of standardized training programs and the subsequent workforce. To solve this problem, Japan adopted problem-based learning (PBL) to enhance standardized medical education about child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP). This preliminary study aimed to evaluate online CAP studies at Nagoya University (NU), Japan, with a focus on PBL materials. Design and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional preliminary study was carried out at NU with a questionnaire developed under the Trondheim–Nagoya (TroNA) project by NU and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The questionnaire, measuring students’ perceptions and understanding of the PBL curriculum and PBL in the CAP, consisted of 15 questions answered on a three-point Likert scale. To compare the PBL CAP delivered online (2021) with the established PBL CAP carried out in person (2019) at NU, an identical questionnaire was used both in 2019 and 2021. Results: The majority of medical students in both in-person (82.5%) and online (91.2%) classes agreed that PBL helped them develop clinical problem-solving skills. In addition, 53.6% of the students in the in-person class and 75.8% of the students in the online class thought PBL enhanced their understanding of CAP. In terms of specific case scenarios, the majority of students in the in-person class (59.8%) and online class (74.7%) agreed that the PBL case helped them understand the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in CAP. Conclusions: Most of the NU medical students were generally satisfied with CAP’s online PBL curriculum. The online PBL CAP curriculum with specific case scenarios can provide medical students with suitable educational means. This preliminary study can to a certain extent provide information relevant for the development of online PBL education in CAP patients and for planning to attract more future doctors to CAP.

Purpose Mental health care is limited worldwide, especially for children and adolescents. In the case of Japan, one in five children has a mental health problem. However, there are barriers to using mental health services for children and adolescents, including a shortage of standardized training programs and the subsequent workforce. To solve this, Japan adapted Problem Based Learning (PBL) to enhance standardized medical education about Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP). This study aims to evaluate online CAP studies at Nagoya University (NU), Japan, with a focus on PBL materials. Design and methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at NU with a questionnaire developed under the Trondheim-Nagoya (TroNA) project by NU and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The questionnaire measuring students' perceptions and understanding of the PBL curriculum and PBL in CAP consisted of 15 questions using a three-point Likert scale. To compare PBL CAP delivered online (2021) with established PBL CAP carried out in person (2019) at NU, an identical questionnaire was used both in 2019 and 2021. Results The majority of medical students in both in-person (82.5%) and online (91.2%) classes agreed that PBL helped them to develop clinical problem-solving skills. In addition, 53.6% of students in in-person class and 75.8% of students in online class thought PBL enhanced their understanding of CAP. In terms of specific case scenarios, the majority of students in the in-person class (59.8%) and online class (74.7%) agreed that the PBL case helped them to understand the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in CAP. Conclusion Most of the NU medical students were generally satisfied with CAP's online PBL curriculum. The online PBL CAP curriculum with specific case scenarios can provide medical students with suitable educational means. This study can be a cornerstone for establishing online PBL education in CAP and making plans to attract more future doctors to CAP.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, from early 2020 onwards, the adoption of synchronous online learning increased rapidly. It offers students a unique learning experience, utilizing communication modes from both in-person and asynchronous online classes. This mixed-methods study examined the impact of modes of communication (visual, bodily behaviors, spoken language, and written language) found in synchronous online contexts on students’ learning experiences from the perspective of social presence and teaching presence, as well as their satisfaction with synchronous online learning experience. An online survey was distributed first to collect quantitative data. The survey results indicated that four different modes influenced students’ communication to a different extent, with written and spoken language being the most effective modes of online communication. These modes were also significantly positively correlated with social presence, teaching presence, and student satisfaction; however, only spoken language was a significant predictor of student satisfaction. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine students’ perceptions of how multimodality affects social presence, teaching presence, and satisfaction with online learning. This led to five major themes and highlighted how multiple modes of communication supports social presence, thereby helping teachers scaffold students. In addition, the online learning context impacts type of instruction, and the reduced distance between teachers and students improves teaching presence; however, the students felt a lack of affective belonging in their online classes. This study also provided implications for course instructors and designers to help them effectively adopt different modes in synchronous online environments and promote social and teaching presence.

The purpose of this study is to survey the perception of pre-service science teachers regarding online classes. The subjects of this study were 76 pre-servide science teachers in the Chungcheong and Gyeongsang provinces, and an online survey was conducted. The survey instruments consisted of 13 questions in three categories: experience &amp; class using digital tools, the learning effectiveness of online classes, and online and in-person experimental classes. Pre-service science teachers were found to lack the ability to use digital tools and the experience of class using digital tools. Pre-service science teachers perceived that in-person classes were the highest effective, but they had very positive perception of blended teaching methods. They perceived the advantages of online learning as learning at a desired location, controlling learning speed, and repeatable learning, while the disadvantages included the lack of interaction, difficulty in self-regulating learning, and poor online learning environment. In addition, they were found to have a very negative perception of online experimental classes, but showed a somewhat positive perception of learning basic concepts. In order to prepare for future school science education and enhance digital capabilities of pre-service science teachers, it is necessary to improve the curriculum for them and develop and utilize teaching-learning methods and strategies.

The COVID-19 pandemic and mandatory social distancing has brought challenges to anatomy educators who generally need in-person classes. The purpose of this study is to share the experience of a distant online lecture on a surgical procedure and related anatomy in a three-dimensional (3D) virtual reality (VR) workspace and to compare it with reported teaching methods, that is, an in-person class and a Zoom online class. The lecture was delivered by three authors of this article in a VR workspace that enables people to meet through VR. The lectures were about combinations of dental surgical procedures and related clinical anatomy. Physically, the attendees could have been located anywhere in the world, so lecturers joined from the United States and the attendees were all from Japan. VR environment and its flexibility enabled attendees to join the lecture actively, helping them to gain understanding of the surgical procedure and anatomy more efficiently. The use of VR technology with a live communication tool demonstrated in this study has several advantages over previous education methods, although there are still technical issues or disadvantages that need to be addressed. Development of the technology and app/software is required so that more data can be processed at higher speed. Use of VR technology with a live communication tool could be an alternative teaching method. Its overall advantages are a closer look at the slides/monitor and concurrent observation of the multiple assets in various directions by multiple attendees. These advantages cannot be achieved by any other teaching method without VR assets with the workspace provided by Spatial. Even during the mandatory social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this could enable us to foster 3D understanding of surgery and related anatomy. Further study is now needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this newly proposed teaching method by comparing it with traditional in-person and online classes with a live communication tool.

BackgroundThe rapid transition from in-person to online delivery of medical curriculum has facilitated the continuation of medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst active learning approaches, including Team-Based Learning (TBL), are generally more supportive of the learner’s needs during such transition, it remains elusive how different learning environments affect a learner’s motivation, engagement, and perceived learning over a prolonged period. We leveraged on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and key learners’ characteristics to explore the levels of student’s engagement and perceived learning in two TBL learning environments, online and in-person, over an extended period. We hypothesize that students’ self-reported perceptions of engagement and learning will be lower in online compared to in-person TBL classes.MethodsThis is a mixed methods study with 49 preclinical graduate medical students completing the same questionnaire twice for each learning environment, online TBL and in-person TBL, over an eight-month period. Quantitative data were collected on learners’ characteristics, basic psychological needs satisfaction, motivation, student’s engagement and perceived learning. Additionally, the final questionnaire also explored the participants’ perception on which learning environment better supported their learning.ResultsWe found that autonomy support, perceived competence and needs satisfaction, and perceived learning were higher in-person than online. Additionally, most learners felt that in-person TBL was better for learning, as the concepts of learning space and the community of practice were mediated by being in-person.ConclusionsTBL, being an active instructional method, can maintain students’ engagement because it supports many aspects of SDT constructs and perceived learning. However, online TBL is unable to fully support the students’ needs and perceived learning. Hence, we strongly advocate for any in-person opportunities to be included in a course, as in-person classes best support students’ engagement and perceived learning.

What Worked, What Did Not: University Instruction during a Pandemic

Studies comparing student outcomes for online vs. in-person classes have reported mixed results, though with a majority finding that lower-performing students, on average, fare worse in online classes, attributed to the lack of built-in structure provided by in-person instruction. The online/in-person outcome disparity was normative for non-major geology classes at the University of Mississippi prior to COVID-19, but the difference disappeared in the years after 2020. Previously distinct trendlines of GPA-based predictions of earned-grade for online and in-person classes merged. Of particular concern, outcomes for in-person classes declined to match pre-COVID-19 online expectations, with lower-GPA students disproportionally impacted. Objective evidence of continued decline in student learning, masked by sliding grading scales, is also presented with a long-term record of exam scores drawing from the same question pool for over a decade. Average scores remained relatively constant until COVID-19. Scores then declined in each successive year, attributed to an increase over time in the percentage of enrolled students who had been in high school during the pandemic shutdowns. At the close of 2023, exam scores showed no signs of returning to pre-COVID-19 outcomes. The negative impacts of the shutdowns, with greater impact on those who were in high school during the pandemic, appear to be due to a loss in the developmental life-skills (e.g., self-motivation, focus, critical thinking, social development) needed to thrive in college, not just reduced exposure to preparatory subject material. These results provide a global cautionary message for the management of future pandemics.