Abstract

Background and Aims: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s-imposed lockdown, e-learning was widely implemented to continue educational plans. Similarly, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS) has implemented e-learning in all programs. This study compared nursing students’ academic performance in an adult nursing course before and after the implementation of e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: It is a mixed-method design in which both quantitative and qualitative data are collected. Conve¬nience sampling was employed in the quantitative part, while purposive sampling was used in the qualitative part. A total of 140 students were included by comparing their academic grades in two semesters before and after implementing e-learning, while the qualitative part was conducted through focus groups using semi-structured interviews with 12 participants. Inferential statistics and content analysis were done for quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. Results: The academic transcripts showed higher grades in the theoretical domain with e-learning compared to on-campus, with a significant difference (t ≤ -11.6, p<0.001). In contrast, the grades were significantly lower in the clinical domain with e-learning compared to on-campus (t≤ 15.7, p<0.001). Two themes emerged from the qualitative findings, which are: the lived e-learning experience and the lived on-campus experience. Conclusion: The qualitative findings of this study were parallel with the quantitative results, where participants reported a negative impact of the lack of clinical practice on their academic performance in clinical domains. On the other hand, participants reported high flexibility associated with e-learning, which contributed to improving their academic scores. It is highly recommended to adopt hybrid (blended) learning as a learning strategy, especially in delivering nursing curricula.

Keywords: Nursing students · e-learning · academic performance · Covid-19

References

  1. 1.Alshammari AF, Adaileh MJ (2018) E-Learning Readiness: A Scale Development in Saudi Higher Education Institutions. Int J Econ Manag Sci 7: 553. doi: 10.4172/2162-6359.1000553. doi:10.4172/2162-6359.1000553
  2. 2.Abou Hashish E A, Baatiah NY, Bashaweeh AH, Kattan AM. The online learning experience and reported headachesassociatedwithscreenexposure time among Saudi health sciences students during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC medical education. 2022 Dec;22(1):1-3.
  3. 3.Amir LR, Tanti I, Maharani DA, Wimardhani YS, Julia V, Sulijaya B, et al. Student perspective of classroom and online learning during COVID-19 pandemic in the undergraduate dental study program Universitas Indonesia. BMC Med Educ. 2020;20(1):1–8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020- 02312-0. doi:10.1186/s12909-020-
  4. 4.Aristovnik A, Keržič D, Ravšelj D, Tomaževič N, Umek L. Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on life of higher education students: A global perspective. Sustainability. 2020; 12(20): 8438.
  5. 5.Amirullah Khan & Bareq Raad Raheem. (2020).The role of e-learning in covid-19 crisis. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts. 8 (3),9-14.
  6. 6.Ahu Genis-Gruber and Gerold Weisz (2022) Challenges of Online Exam Systems in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era: E-Assessment of Perception, Motivation, and Performance. doi: 10.4018/978-1-7998-8661-7.ch005. doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-8661-7.ch005
  7. 7.Chung E, Subramaniam G, Dass LC. Online learning readiness among university students in Malaysia amidst Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences ,Vol. 11, Issue 1, January - 2023, Jumada al-Akhirah - 1444 55 Comparing Saudi students’academic performance before and after implementing e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in the adult nursing course:Amixed-methods study. COVID-19. Asian J Univ Educ. 2020a;16(2):46–58. https://doi.org/10.24191/ajue. v16i2.10294. doi:10.24191/ajue
  8. 8.CookD,LevinsonA,GarsideS,Dupras D,ErwinP,MontoriV.Instructionaldesign variations in internet-based learning for health professions education: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acad Med. 2010;85:909–22.

Peer review

Peer reviewed by 2 reviewers, who chose to remain anonymous.

Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences · eISSN 1658-8223 · Majmaah University · open access