Covid-19, an opportunity to compare in-person and online teaching

Abstract

The dichotomy between traditional in-person teaching versus online instructionhas been discussed for years. The lockdown, consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic,gave us an opportunity to gain evidence and compare in-person versus online teachingby the same professor, in the same subject, and by the same students which is aninteresting scenario because the only variable is the teaching setup. Here, we surveyedstudents that following a traditional in-person subject were abruptly compelled tocontinue it online. We summarize the students' responses when asked to compare bothtypes of teaching with the singularity that the rest of the variables were kept constant.Finally, we compared the grades of this "hybrid taught" group of students with thegrades from groups of previous years in the same subject, by the same instructor, buttotally in-person. We, as medical teachers, were excited about the possibility that theonline teaching forced by the Covid-19 pandemic will develop in the system fordelivering our lectures in the near future. Even considering that grades were not affectedand pros such as comfort and participation, according to our study, students prefer in-person education mainly because of the direct contact and interaction with peers andteachers.