COVID-19 RELATED ANXIETY AND ONLINE LEARNING SATISFACTION BY NIGERIAN UNDERGRADUATE DENTAL STUDENTS

Abstract

Objectives: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, undergraduate dental education institutions substituted face-to-face learning with online learning. Although online learning has provided many advantages for higher education institutions, there remain many challenges which hinder its usage effectively. This research examined association between the level of anxiety due to the COVID-19 pandemic and satisfaction with different aspects of online learning during the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19 across Nigeria.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey using an electronic questionnaire shared in various social media platforms between September and November 2020. Statistical significance was set at 5% level.

Results: This study found that 6.2% of respondents had dysfunctional level of anxiety associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, there was reduced satisfaction with the learning experiences after switching to online learning. COVID-19 related anxiety did not show statistically significant association with satisfaction with learning experiences (p > 0.05). Hardware and software problems interfered with students’ ability to participate in their course at least occasionally for 64% of students, while internet connectivity problems interfered with students’ ability to participate in their course at least occasionally for 80% of students.

Conclusions: This research recommends institutions to consider the challenges that learning online can pose for dental students by designing course policies and practices that can work for students with poor internet connectivity, limited access to appropriate devices, family and job responsibilities, and those with no designated place at home for doing coursework.