In March 2020 lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced Polish Medical Universities to implement e-learning. The aim of the study was to evaluate the perception of e-learning by students of Medical Universities in Poland.Survey was performed nationwide via the Internet from 30th November 2020 to 10th February 2021. Six hundred fifteen (615) medical students completed the survey. The study questionnaire included questions concerning sociodemographic data, perception of lecturers' effectiveness, assessment of stationary and online classes, changes in learning habits and restrictions on education, and advantages and disadvantages of e-learning.The respondents reported that 96.1% of lectures, 85.5% of seminars, and 40.0% of clinical classes were implemented by e-learning. The lectures conducted by e-learning were assessed as good and very good by 78.4% and seminars by 51.2% of respondents. While the clinical classes conducted by e-learning were assessed as bad and very bad by 62.9% of respondents. The most frequently indicated limitations of e-learning were the quality of the content and available materials (26.9%), restrictions in direct contact with the lecturer (19.6%), Internet connection (16.8%), and home conditions (13.8%). Only 4% of the students had to buy or retrofit computer equipment. Any other limitations were indicated by 9.7% of the respondents.Students were highly accepting of lectures and seminars conducted in the form of e-learning, but not laboratory and clinical classes. The main problems in e-learning are the quality of the classes conducted and the Internet connection. The students expect e-learning classes to be conducted in real-time, with direct, face-to-face contact with the lecturer. 

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The perception of e-learning during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic by students of medical universities in Poland – a survey-based study

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(1) Background: There is a gap in the literature that explores challenges and opportunities relating to virtual or e-assessment health science education with particular relevance to the Health Sciences Education practical examination for student nurse educators. Therefore, this review aimed to address this gap and provide recommendations for enhancing identified opportunities and for overcoming identified challenges.; (2) Methods: The review was conducted across Google Scholar, PubMed/MEDLINE, Science Direct, Directory of Open Access Journals, Complementary Index, SCOPUS, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) with the intention of identifying opportunities and challenges presented by e-assessment in the HSE practical examination for student nurse educators during the COVID-19 pandemic.; (3) Results: The following aspects are discussed: (1) opportunities, including benefits, for both student nurse educators and facilitators and opportunities for Nursing Education; and (2) challenges, including issues with accessibility and connectivity as well as the attitudes of both students and facilitators.; (4) Conclusions: Despite challenges which included connectivity issues that led to frustration and stress, the unpreparedness and attitudes of students and facilitators, there are some opportunities that have emerged from e-assessment that can be beneficial to both the students and the facilitators, as well as the institutions. These include a reduced administrative burden, improved teaching and learning, and immediate feedback from facilitators to students and from students to facilitators.

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Virtual Practical Examination for Student Nurse Educators in Health Sciences Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review

Students’ volunteering is an effective way to manage health crises, including pandemics. Due to the limited capacity of the healthcare system at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak, the engagement of students in volunteering services seemed invaluable. Based on different teaching–learning theories, in this survey study, we aimed to evaluate the potential of the volunteering service project launched by the Poznan University of Medical Sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic as a learning opportunity for undergraduate healthcare students. The results indicate the potential of involving students in volunteering activities for educational purposes, as well as other values, including attitudes and professional identity development, which could be difficult to realize using traditional teaching methods. However, stimulating students’ reflectiveness seems necessary to reach its full educational effectiveness. Medical teachers should provide students with more opportunities for volunteering and service learning and consider making these a constant element of the curriculum beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Potential of Volunteering in Formal and Informal Medical Education—A Theory-Driven Cross-Sectional Study with Example of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The diversity of tasks entrusted to medical teachers with their simultaneous responsibility for the safety of patients and the effective education of future healthcare professionals requires maintaining a skillful balance between their teaching, scientific and clinical activities. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the work of both healthcare facilities and medical universities, forcing already overworked medical teachers to establish a new balance. One's ability to perform effectively in new, ambiguous, or unpredictable situations was described by Albert Bandura as a self-efficacy concept. Consequently, this study aimed to identify factors affecting the self-efficacy of medical teachers and the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on them.Twenty-five semi-structured interviews with medical teachers were conducted using a flexible thematic guide. They were transcribed and analyzed by two independent researchers (researcher triangulation) with phenomenology as the qualitative approach.Identified themes demonstrate a process of the evolvement of clinical teachers' self-efficacy in response to the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, namely the decline of self-efficacy in the first phase of the crisis, followed by building task-specific self-efficacy and the development of general self-efficacy.The study shows the significance of providing care and support for medical teachers during a health crisis. Crisis management decision-makers at educational and healthcare institutions should consider the different roles of medical teachers and the possibility of overburden associated with the cumulation of the excessive number of patient, didactic, and research duties. Moreover, faculty development initiatives and teamwork should become a vital part of the organizational culture of medical universities. A dedicated tool acknowledging the specificity and context of medical teachers' work seems necessary to quantitatively evaluate their sense of self-efficacy. 

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Factors affecting the self-efficacy of medical teachers during a health crisis – a qualitative study on the example of the COVID-19 pandemic

The abrupt transition from the traditional model of medical education to online learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented changes in the education of future healthcare professionals. This study aimed to evaluate the opinions of Polish healthcare students on the changes introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic and propose recommendations for improvement. Data were collected from June to July 2020 using an online questionnaire. The results demonstrate that students were generally satisfied with the online learning solutions implemented during the pandemic and appreciated their teachers’ efforts. In their opinion, some of the solutions should also be continued after the pandemic. Students noticed positive aspects of online learning: time efficiency, bigger student-friendliness and unlimited attention from teachers, the flexibility of the learning process, better learning conditions for students, and absences due to illness and other random situations. However, they also noticed its disadvantages: problems with the Internet connection and technical aspects, attitudes of teachers, limited interpersonal relations, limited learning of practical skills, health concerns, students’ engagement and distractions at home, and assessment. To conclude, our results indicate some necessary recommendations to improve the quality of further online learning in medical schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/21582440221085016

Paulina Birula

Papers

Distance Learning and Assessment During the COVID-19 Pandemic—Perspectives of Polish Medical and Healthcare Students