Comparison of Teaching-Learning Strategies ofonline vs. in-person master's degree in MedicalEducation

Introduction: According to the fact that number of stakeholdersof education increased rapidly along with the promptdevelopment of information and communication technology, thein-service training systems alone could not be respond the needsof educational system. So the virtual training is expanding (۱).The novel learning environment, the multimedia system, and thechallenges of andragogy in universities would be important issuesthat affect the learning process. In this paper, the strategies ofTeaching-Learning from the perspective of online and in-personmaster's degree in Medical Education in Iran University ofMedical Sciences were compared.Methods: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study inwhich all MS students of Medical education in both on line (۶۰students) and in person (۹ students) courses participated. In orderto data gathering, a researcher made questionnaire containing ۱۵items was used. Most of questions were about teacher's teachingmethods and educational materials. To determine the reliabilityof the questionnaire, a test-retest method was used and aquestionnaire was distributed among the ۶ graduate students.Spearman's correlation coefficient was obtained from the re-testfor the whole questionnaire (r = ۰.۰۸۱, P = ۰.۰۳).Results: The results indicated that in on line course, teaching byexperts (۳.۴ ± ۰.۸۸) and determining the educational goals alongwith outlines at the beginning of the course (۳.۵ ± ۰.۷۵) were gotmaximum scores whereas team work in preparing and presentingassignments (۲.۸ ± ۱.۱), the existence the practical units inhospitals (۲.۷ ± ۰.۹۶) were acquired minimum scores. In personcourse survey showed that using the novel strategy in teachingand learning process (۴.۲۲ ± ۰.۶۶), team work in preparing andpresenting assignments (۴.۱۱ ± ۰.۶۰), and using the up to datesreferences by teachers (۴.۱۱ ± ۰.۳۳) were got maximum scoreswhile making research group (۳.۰۰ ± ۰.۹۲) were acquiredminimum scores.Conclusion: In the online course, the interaction between theinstructor and the student would not be enough. There is noprecise focus on the course in online tutoring, and neither teachercontrol on the students, nor face to face and non-verbalcommunication. Practical skills are less common in the virtualperiod than online vs. in-person course. Considering thatachieved scores, it seems that in the in person course the hiddencurriculum would have important role because of face to facecommunication whereas in on line courses students focused onthe formal planned curriculum.

کلیدواژه ها:

Online course ، In-person course ، learning andteaching