Feasibility of Online Classes for Microbiology Courses: Lessons learned amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Life Sciences-Microbiology For Better Health Care

Abstract

Universities and  colleges worldwide have been  closed following the  novel  coronavirus (COVID-19), and online learning has become  an educational practice at once. Previous research  showed  many problems, including time management difficulties, technological devices, communication, engagement and assessment  of students  for both  educators  and students  in online  education.  This  research  was  formulated  to  understand  whether  online  microbiology  courses  from  different  Saudi Universities are appropriate. It was a nationwide cross-sectional study among educators  from multiple Saudi Arabian Universities during the whole month of June 2020. We distributed the survey link electronically through messages on the phone. A total of 134 Saudis participated in the study, and the majority of the respondents,  i.e., 106 (79.10%) are between  36 to 55 years old, 17 (12.69%) are 56 years and above. A total of 65 (48.51%) respondents  responded  that shifting from in-classroom to online setup has impacted the teaching-learning process  negatively, while 43 (32.09%) responded  with a positive impact. The majority of the respondents  (82%) disagreed that practical learning outcomes  such as laboratory-based microbiology courses  can be achieved online at the same level as regular-campus classes.Furthermore, more than half of the participants think that students' dishonesty or violation of academic integrity threatens  institutions from offering online courses. Technology tools have brought a positive impact on the effectiveness of online microbiology education. This study illustrated that the shift to online microbiology classes has a positive  impact  on attention  to  academic  integrity.  However,  in-person  labs  are  still  considered  the  optimal  lab design. While pandemics  have historically  generated  difficulties,  recognizing  these  difficulties  is  the  first  step  in  turning them  into possibilities.