Distance learning environment: Perception of medical students using the Distance Education Learning Environments Survey in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Abstract

Background: Amid the COVID-19 period and lockdowns, medical education has witnessed major changes. Shifting from face-to-face offline education to online education in such an important branch of education dealing with human lives and serving mankind is really very challenging. In this distance learning process, student satisfaction is important and prediction of their satisfaction and other important parameters will help in improving the online system of medical education. Objective: To evaluate students' perception about distance learning education based on different domains given in the Distance learning Education Environment survey scale. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among first-year and final-year MBBS students of the Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU. The total number of students who participated in the study was 123. The Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (DELES) scale which was validated for higher education by Scott L was used. The domain represents instructor support (D1), student interaction and collaboration (D2), personal relevance (D3), authentic learning (D4), active learning (D5), student autonomy (D6), and student satisfaction in distance learning process (D7). Results: The mean and standard deviation for each domain of the DELES were calculated. For instructor support, the mean was 25.9 for first-year students and 21.3 for final-year students. For the domain of authentic learning, the mean score was low, i.e. 15.7, for the first year and 13.3 for the final year. In the learning domain for the question about students satisfaction, the mean score was 19.8 for first-year students and 17.9 for final-year students. Conclusion: The finding of this study indicated that the majority of students were satisfied with instructor's support and personal relevance of the online learning classes, but were unsatisfied with opportunities of student interaction and group discussion, which is essential in medical education.

Keywords

• covid period
• distance education learning environments survey questionnaire
• distance learning environment
• medical education