Evaluating the Immediate Impact of an Online Dental Faculty Development Course for Emergency Remote Teaching Preparedness

Abstract

Background: During the COVID-19 Pandemic, this study evaluated the immediate effects of an online course on MOODLE offered to the faculty of a medical university to deal with the emergency remote teaching and assessment.

Materials and Methods: This single-group pre-post-design intervention study was conducted from November 2020 to April 2021. Data was collected through the course feedback form, pre-posttests assessing content knowledge and faculty readiness in online teaching & assessment. Descriptive variables were analyzed using SPSS version 20. A paired sample t-test was applied to determine the differences between mean scores.

Results: A total of 172 responses (96.65%) were received by the faculty teaching remotely. There was a statistically significant difference in the pre and post-test scores (9.11±2.20 and 12.92±2.53 respectively) and course readiness scores (75.45±18.82 and 86.19±18.67 respectively) with a p < 0.001. Participants were satisfied and identified main strengths of the course which were use of online teaching tools and the relevance of the course content and weakness as technical glitches using MOODLE.

Conclusion: The basics of online assessment and teaching course improved faculty knowledge and readiness to use online tools. However, feedback highlighted areas of improvement in the course and recommended addition of synchronous sessions and to develop more comprehensive blended courses.