Perceptions of Clinical Dental Students Toward Online Education During the COVID-19 Crisis: An Egyptian Multicenter Cross-Sectional Survey

Frontiers in Psychology

Reham Hassan³  Ayman R. Khalifa⁵  Tarek Elsewify⁶  Mohamed G. Hassan⁷ 

[1] Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt;Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Egyptian Russian University, Cairo, Egypt;Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Minia University, El-Minia, Egypt;Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt;Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, October 6 University, Giza, Egypt;Department of Restorative Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Gulf Medical University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates;Division of Bone and Mineral Diseases, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States;

关键词: COVID-19;    dental education;    clinical education;    dental students;    online education;    coronavirus;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2021.704179

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Objectives: To evaluate the perceptions of clinical dental students on the role of online education in providing dental education during the COVID-19 crisis.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was sent to four Egyptian dental schools from the 20th of January 2021 to the 3rd of February 2021. Survey questions included the demographics, uses, experiences, perceived benefits, and barriers of distance learning in dentistry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Responses were collected from the clinical dental school students. Categorical data were presented as frequencies (n) and percentages (%) and were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test.Results: Three hundred thirty-seven clinical dental students across four Egyptian dental schools responded. Most students used either Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams to access the online content. The data showed that the COVID-19 pandemic affected the academic performance of most participants (97.4%) with varying degrees. On average, students were neutral when asked to rate the online lectures, but did not find online practical education as effective (81.3%) as online theoretical teaching. The commonly described barriers to online teaching included loss of interaction with educators, inappropriateness in gaining clinical skills, and the instability of the internet connection.Conclusion: Despite the reported benefits, clinical dental students in Egypt preferred the hybrid approach in dental education as distance learning represented a prime challenge to gain adequate clinical dental skills.

【 授权许可】

Unknown