Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Medical faculty perception toward digital teaching methods during COVID‑19 pandemic: Experience from India

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Karthik Vishwanathan
. Geetika Madan Patel 1
. Devanshu Jayeshbhai Patel 2

1 Department of Community Medicine, Parul Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Parul University, Vadodara, Gujarat, India

2 Department of Pharmacology, Parul Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Parul University, Vadodara, Gujarat, India

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Videoconferencing has been used as a modality of online medical teaching
by various institutes. There is a paucity of studies reporting the perception of medical teachers
toward teaching using teleconferencing platforms. The objective of this survey was to evaluate the
perception of medical teachers toward teaching using videoconferencing platforms such as Zoom
meet, Google meet, and Google classroom during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Our hypothesis was
teaching faculty would have a positive perception and experience toward web‑based teaching
modalities.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical teachers of a medical college were invited to participate
in a prospective observational cross‑sectional online survey. The faculty demographic information,
perception, experience, and satisfaction were noted. Perception data were presented as proportion
and percentage.
RESULTS: 104 out of 160 faculty members participated in the study (response rate = 65%).
61 male (58.7%) and 43 female (41.3%) faculty members participated in the study. The mean age
of the faculty members was 39.3 years ± 13 (range: 27–69 years). Laptop (n = 73 [70.2%]) was the
most commonly used electronic device by the faculty members for conducting e‑teaching sessions
followed by smartphone (n = 25 [24%]). Google meet was the most preferred videoconference tool
for online teaching. Ninety‑six faculties (92.2%) were satisfied with the e‑teaching method adopted
by the institute. Eighty‑three faculty (79.8%) perceived the e‑teaching method to be very useful and
quite useful as a modality for teaching during the lockdown period.
CONCLUSIONS: The teaching faculties had a positive perception toward digital education methods
adopted for teaching of undergraduate medical students at our institute.

Keywords

COVID‑19
cross sectional survey
faculty
medical
videoconferencing
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 11, Issue 3
March 2021
Pages 1-7

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