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Navigating post COVID-19 education: an investigative study on students' attitude and perception of their new normal learning environment

Agarwal A 1 , Subramaniam G 2 , Khattak O 3 , Begum G 4 , Taha A 1 , Bayomy NA 5 Show all authors , Bawadekji A 6 , Makhdoom AK 7 , Alshammari MS 7 , Chaudhary FA 8

Affiliations 

  • 1 Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia
  • 2 INTI International University, Nilai, Malaysia
  • 3 Department of Restorative Dentistry, Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
  • 4 Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Suhar Campus, National University, Muscat, Oman
  • 5 Anatomy Department, Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia
  • 6 Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia
  • 7 Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia
  • 8 Department of Community Dentistry, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Islamabad, Pakistan
PeerJ, 2023;11:e16184.
PMID: 37927799 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16184

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The incidence and aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a drastic change in health professional education around the world. Traditional classrooms made way for online classrooms in order to ensure that learning continued in a safe and secure environment. However, how well health professional students perceived and accepted these changes have not been fully gauged yet. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the perception of health professional students about their new educational climate.

METHODS: A modified and validated Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire was used to collect data regarding student perception of their educational environment.

RESULTS: The mean DREEM scores for three time periods were in the accepted positive range of 101 to 150 indicating that most of the students perceived the changes positively. The results indicated that most students preferred blended learning over online learning or face-to-face learning alone. Areas where students were unsatisfied with their learning environment that need improvement were identified by poor item-wise scores.

CONCLUSION: Strategic remedial measures for these concerns need to be developed to improve the quality of education received by the students. However, the results of our study indicated that most of the students were able to adapt positively to the new education environment due to the change in the circumstances during COVID.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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