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. 2023 Apr 21;23(1):276.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-023-04253-w.

Students engagement using polls in virtual sessions of physiology, pathology, and pharmacology at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

Mona Abubakr Bawazeer  1   2 , Saima Aamir  3   4 , Fatmah Othman  4   5 , Reem Alkahtani  3   4
Affiliations

Students engagement using polls in virtual sessions of physiology, pathology, and pharmacology at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

Mona Abubakr Bawazeer et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: Active involvement of students in class using technology is associated with effective learning and understanding. This work intended to analyze the impact of interactive teaching on medical students' engagement, learning, performance, understanding and attendance in virtual classes of physiology, pathology, and pharmacology during COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at college of medicine at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS) in Riyadh during January-April 2022. Third- and fourth-year medical students filled a self-reported questionnaire that assessed students' engagement, understanding, performance, and attendance during the sessions of three courses within the curriculum. The Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was used to compare the difference between the survey responses.

Results: A total of 184/234 questionnaires were completed and returned, with an overall response rate of 78.6%. Fifty-five percent of the participants were involved at least more than 5 times in polls during the class. Majority (86.9%), of the students agreed on enjoying participation in polls during the class, and 88.9% recommended the utilization of the polls again. Participation in polls improved understanding and performance of 88%, and 63% of students respectively. In addition, 38% were neutral regarding attendance improvement and spending more time for the class. Around 53% students agreed that polls improved their grades.

Conclusion: In conclusion, this study showed that there is an impact of using interactive polls in virtual classes in medical students at KSAU-HS. It is recommended to continue using polls in all subjects in on-site sessions. This will be a great preface step toward switching the traditional teaching to the interactive teaching using flipped classroom strategy in the future.

Keywords: Engagement; Medical students; Poll; Understanding; Virtual.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Screenshot showing a multiple-choice question with students’ responses using Mentimeter
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Screenshot showing students’ interaction with instructor through chat in Black Board Collaborate Ultra during a virtual session in pandemic
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Screenshot from Black Board Collaborate Ultra showing student’s response to polls after instructor’s feedback
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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