European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Aim: Our study aims at analysing the undergraduate students’ perspective of online ophthalmology classes during the Covid 19 pandemic.
Settings and Design: The study is a descriptive cross-sectional observational analysis conducted in the month of June 2021 at Medical College, Karnataka, India. 
Materials and Methods: An online self-completion questionnaire containing 13 questions was sent through Google forms. 346 medical students of third and final year, who have completed or undergoing online ophthalmology classes were included in the study. Most of the questions were semi open question. Link to the questionnaire was sent through the WhatsApp group and was available to them for a period of two weeks.
Results: The online survey questionnaire was responded by 237 students.166 students (70%) did not have any online learning experience before the pandemic. Majority of the students preferred problem-based learning 92 (27.62%) over other methods. Benefit of reading the study material at own pace was perceived as the prime advantage of online classes.  Poor internet connectivity was opted as the major hurdle (170-35%) of the online classes. Multiple choice questions were the most preferred method of online assessment (150 -41.32%). 105 students (44.3%) felt that the ophthalmological clinical skills were learnt better by attending clinical postings. Majority of the students (166-70%) favoured classroom teaching over online classes for fruitful learning.
Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced newer teaching methods in ophthalmology.  Most students, even in the era of the internet showed a preference to classroom teaching and clinical postings for a better learning experience.