The Effectiveness of Online Education in Basic Medical Sciences Courses during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia: Cross-Sectional Study

Mohamed A. Alblihed, Syed Moyn Aly, Ashraf Albrakati, Ahmed Fathy Eldehn, Shaimaa Ahmed Awad Ali, Tahani Al-Hazani, Mohammed Hamed Albarakati, Mohamed Abdel Daim, Anas Al-sharif, Alaa Jameel A. Albarakati and Ehab Kotb Elmahallawy
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Mohamed A. Alblihed: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
Syed Moyn Aly: Institute of Medical Education, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi 75510, Pakistan
Ashraf Albrakati: Department of Human Anatomy, College of Medicine, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
Ahmed Fathy Eldehn: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kasr Al-Ainy Medical School, Cairo University, Cairo 12613, Egypt
Shaimaa Ahmed Awad Ali: College of Nursing, Jouf University, Sakaka 42421, Saudi Arabia
Tahani Al-Hazani: Biology Department, College of Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11940, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Hamed Albarakati: College of Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, 80-210 Gdansk, Poland
Mohamed Abdel Daim: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmacy Program, Batterjee Medical College, Jeddah 21442, Saudi Arabia
Anas Al-sharif: Department of Pharmacy, Ibn Sena Hospital, Makkah 23342, Saudi Arabia
Alaa Jameel A. Albarakati: Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Al-Qunfudah Branch, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21961, Saudi Arabia
Ehab Kotb Elmahallawy: Department of Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag 82524, Egypt

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) is an emerging pandemic that has caused significant disruptions to education, resulting in marked scholar closures across the world. The present study documents the student perception of the online educational process at six universities in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The individual variable factors, i.e., institution, sex, and blended learning, that might influence student perception were also investigated. In this respect, a questionnaire that assessed the impact of COVID-19 on the online learning process and student perception was emailed to a total of 17,230 students from 3 institutions (medical, applied health and dental students) affiliated with six universities in Saudi Arabia. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to determine the validity of the questionnaire. A total of 4850 (28%) students responded to the questionnaire and 46.9% ( n = 2275) of the respondents were highly satisfied with their online education. Analyses of the scores from the students showed a highly significant difference ( p = 0.000) between the male and female students. Applied health students (highly satisfied score = 63.13) were the most satisfied with their online education, while medical students (highly satisfied score = 39.3) were the least satisfied with this education. In addition, applied health, dental and medical students showed a significantly higher score in favor of blended learning after schools re-open ( p = 0.000). Collectively, student satisfaction with online education was common, and blended learning was preferred over the traditional format by both genders and all the students. The present data provide interesting contributions and evidence for policy makers and implementers, which might be helpful for the judgment side of decision making.

Keywords: COVID-19; online education; basic medical sciences; Saudi Arabia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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