Self-reflection and perception of medical and allied courses faculty to online teaching compared to traditional teaching: A mixed-method study

INTRODUCTION

E-learning has become an integral or essential part of modern education worldwide. Considering the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic situation, e-learning has gained more popularity and has become an inevitable method to ensure the continuity of classes. In the first quarter of the current academic year (2020), classroom teaching was the primary or predominant teaching–learning method for large-group teaching. The sudden need for an alternative teaching method has created an avenue and compelled to introduce full-fledged online teaching in the medical curriculum.

Most teachers have minimal experience with online teaching since most of their learning and teaching years have been spent in a traditional face-to-face classroom.^[1] So, how do instructors prepare themselves to teach online? What new teaching strategies will be adopted for this mode of teaching?^[2] The teaching strategy in terms of the nature of faculty preparation, duration of experience and support provided for online teaching affecting the performance between faculty will vary considerably over a period of time.^[3,4]

The present study is unique in that it is planned to look at the self-reflection he several 1-time online teachers/faculty on their satisfaction level with online teaching compared to conventional classroom teaching through a mixed-method approach.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RESULTS

A total of 119 responses were collected from the filled questionnaire amongst the faculty. There were 58 male and 61 female responders. There was no significant difference between the gender of the participants and their perception of online teaching compared to the traditional method. The average age of the faculty was 32 years (42.8%) from the range of 30–70 years. The majority of responders had 3–5 years (42%) of undergraduate teaching experience, followed by 6–10 years (35.3%) of experience [Table 1]. There was a minimal negative correlation coefficient of 0.01 between the years of teaching experience and the mean difference in scores between the traditional and online classes, but it was not statistically significant.

The maximum response was obtained from the medical faculty (60 out of 119) compared to dental and pharmacy. Mean and standard deviation was calculated for each response for all the 17 questions of the questionnaire and are depicted in [Table 2]. A P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. There was no significant difference in mean difference between people who had prior experience in online teaching or not.

Three open-ended questions regarding the advantages and disadvantages of online teachings and faculty preparation for online teachings were asked, and common responses were identified and utilised for ODS preparation.

DISCUSSION

Our study found that faculty faced many challenges in executing an online class compared to conventional classes in facilitating student engagement, rewarding pupils, providing feedback, and having effective communication in terms of using verbal and non-verbal cues during lectures. The current pandemic situation has forced medical instructors to switch to online teaching when compared to conventional/traditional teaching to continue the learning process. Most medical instructors have not been exposed to online teaching as they were trained and taught by conventional methods. The introduction of technology-based integration has been stressful to the faculty, and it has been observed that for effective technology integration to happen, teacher readiness is the essential key factor. By teacher readiness, we mean technical knowledge, training and preparation in the specific mode of teaching,^[8,10] which is similar to the findings of our study. In a study, many teachers expressed that they would like to be comfortable before using a specific tool as a mode of instruction to students; the faculty expressed the same opinion in our study in open-ended questions.^[11] Various studies also establish that many teachers lack the skills to integrate technology into online classes,^[12] and not all faculty members are suited to teach online due to differences in their teaching style.^[13]

In our study, faculty faced challenges like starting and ending lectures on time due to technical glitches and expressed during a ODS that technical support from the institution is essential for online classes. Similar findings on peer and institutional support have been reported; for example, a study by Bennett and Lockyer reported that faculty got comfortable with online teaching by interacting with knowledgeable professionals, peers and through continuous professional development.^[14] Continued professional development focussing on this area amongst instructors is essential for the effective integration of technology for online lectures and better learning outcome of student learning outcomes.^[15] A study conducted by Nokwali et al. reported that ‘Teachers need not only technical but also administrative, parental, and peer support.’^[16]

The next most crucial challenging factor is the time constraint for adapting to new technology. Faculty reported that difficulties were encountered in completing the specific learning objectives of the topic and ensuring smooth execution of the class due to student behaviour, and technical and internet issues, which is similar to report findings from Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow research which stated, ‘teachers need time to move through different stages of development in order to utilise technology, or any innovation for that matter, to their advantage.’^[17]

Christianson et al., in a study amongst nursing faculty, reported that highly interactive and effective, but in our study, we found that in terms of the ability of students to answer questions during the class and the teachers to ask questions to students was better in traditional classroom settings.^[13] Faculty expressed difficulty communicating effectively using verbal and non-verbal cues during online lectures.

Similar to our study, a study on higher education in India amongst 800 odd respondents reported that the traditional method is preferred when compared to online teaching as we lack the necessary support like tools and infrastructure to adopt and sustain the online mode of teaching^[18]

There are some well-known advantages of online teaching as listed by our faculty, the most important being continuing medical education despite COVID-19, and facilitating COVID appropriate behaviour amongst students and faculty. For faculty, it provides the flexibility of location and time that are not always present under the traditional delivery of lectures.^[19] For students, it enhances student independence and student retention and facilitates high-order thinking though only 11 faculty felt that they could impart high-order thinking skills during an online lecture class compared to 34 faculty during traditional/conventional lecture classes.

A focus group, which social science researchers use, efficiently obtains qualitative data from multiple participants. Focus groups are less threatening and may provide a deeper understanding of the phenomena by encouraging group participants to compare their experiences and other instructor experience. Comparison, in turn, highlights either consensus or diversity of experiences on a topic. In this qualitative, descriptive study, focus group methodology, as described by Krueger and Casey,^[8] guided data collection and analysis to uncover online faculty perceptions of what constitutes how satisfied are they with online teaching, the effectiveness of online classes, to share personal examples in a non-threatening group discussion.

Focus groups that are well designed usually last between 1 h and 2 h.^[10] Unlike one-on-one interviews, focus groups permit participants to express and clarify their views, creating a synergy of information that is valid. ODS was executed on the Zoom portal due to the COVID-19 background. The interaction was recorded after obtaining permission from all the participants. To assure accuracy, each session was transcribed verbatim, and the investigators verified the accuracy

In a stream like medicine, where we need an explanation of concepts and mechanisms with the help of figures, flowcharts, and diagrams, we require a significant amount of engagement between students and teachers for effective learning. To attain this effective learning, simple audio recordings may not be adequate as in online teaching, students and teachers are not interacting in a real-time environment. Online lecture recordings should preferably be used for revisions in situations when some concepts are unclear; students have the option of replaying them.^[20] According to Parija and Adkoli, it is necessary to retrain and reorganise the faculty with the new demands of technology to implement virtual curriculum and assessment in India.^[21] However, if it is necessary to sustain an online mode of teaching, some suggestions to overcome the challenges of online teaching have been reported in studies like providing learning material to students before the class, sustaining students’ connection during the class, slow pace with more discussions, and cross-questioning. And also pre-recorded videos can be shared to complete the learning objectives.^[22]

Online teaching is the need of the hour in the current pandemic, but it cannot be a substitute for traditional classroom teaching but rather a ‘supplement’ to continue the learning process.

CONCLUSION

Faculty were overall not satisfied with online lecture classes as they had trouble in providing set induction and adequate closure, enabling pupil participation during a presentation like asking questions, rewarding pupil effort and time management skills like starting class on time, ending on time, completion of specific learning objectives in comparison to traditional/conventional lecture class.