Student perception of online teaching and learning anatomy during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Main Authors: Ismet Benyamin, Azwanie Izzaty, Shamsudin, Mohd Zubairy, Zamli, Zaitunnatakhin
• Format: Proceeding Paper
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Medicine Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2023
• Subjects: LB2300 Higher Education; R Medicine (General)
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/109303/7/109303_Student%20perception%20of%20online%20teaching%20and%20learning%20anatomy.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/109303/; https://www.medicineandhealthukm.com/ibrowser; https://doi.org/10.17576/MH.2023.s1805

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions in the educational systems. Anatomy teaching and learning (TnL) methods were no exception, hence online teaching was implemented. A significant decline in the quantity and quality of anatomical TnL due to COVID-19 was observed, and this poor performance seems in line with most findings that students prefer traditional anatomy TnL methods. This study aimed to explore students’ perception of online TnL human anatomy courses during the COVID-19 pandemic among IIUM Kuantan undergraduate students. By using convenience sampling, a total of 282 students from IIUM Kuantan Campus were recruited through face-to-face and online surveys. The data shows that most of the participants (82.6%) had a neutral perception of online TnL human anatomy courses during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is contradictory to previous studies. Although 60.3% of them had a positive perception of the online learning environment, they believed that the virtual anatomy classes and practicals cannot substitute the traditional approaches. This is mainly because of the limited interaction with instructors and coursemates, along with reduced interactivity and participation in online TnL methods. A high total perception scores among Nursing students, and among those who used iTa’leEM (p<0.001) were also observed, which warrants further investigation. In summary, the findings suggest that implementing a hybrid approach, while incorporating online applications and platforms that elicit a positive perception, can offer a balanced and flexible learning experience catering to diverse student needs along with enhancing the interactivity between the course and students.