Abstract:

COVID 19 was confirmed in Slovakia in March 2020 [1]. Its aggressiveness and very rapid spread have influenced school teaching. All school levels, including the Faculty of Medicine of Comenius University, have been closed and the educational process has been moved to virtual space [2]. Teaching methods had to change and adapt very quickly.

Medical Biophysics is included in the 1st semester of medical studies. There are 2 lecture lessons and 3 practical lessons per week. The course is completed by a final exam. The teaching process of biophysics was a typical face-to-face form before the pandemic. Blended education was used in the 3rd year of the pandemic. The lectures were in a virtual space and practical exercises in face-to-face form.

The aim of our study was to compare the biophysical knowledge of students before the pandemic and in the 3rd pandemic year. There were evaluated 1,077 tests solved by students in academic year 2019/2020 and 951 tests solved in year 2021/2022. The test results were evaluated and compared.

The testing conditions were the same in both years. During the semester, 2 tests were solved by the students. The 3rd test was included in the final exam. The students solved the test in the MOODLE platform and were directly, personally, checked by the teacher. The same test question database was used. Test contained 100 statements. The students marked only correct statement. The maximum score was 100 points. The time limit was 30 minutes.

Descriptive statistics methods were used to evaluate the results. The Student t-test was used to compare the students´ results of both years. Differences in student outcomes during the semester were identified by one-way ANOVA.

Although the students solved the test under the same conditions in both years, we found statistically significant differences in their outcomes. In average, students achieved less points in the years when they completed face-to-face teaching. Students scored statistically significantly more points during blended teaching (p = 0.000). The differences in the average number of points among the individual tests were greater in blended learning (p = 0.000) than in face-to-face teaching (p = 0.006).

Acknowledgement:
This work is supported by Grant project 023UK-4/2021.

References:
[1] FRA. European Union Agency for fundamental rights. Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak in the EU Fundamental Rights Implications. Accessed 7 March, 2022. Retrieved from https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/slovakia-report-covid-19-april-2020_en.pdf
[2] Opatrenia Univerzity Komenského v Bratislave v záujme predchádzania vzniku a šírenia prenosných ochorení . Príkaz rektora Univerzity Komenského v Bratislave č.3/2020. [Measures of Comenius University in Bratislava in order to prevent the emergence and spread of communicable diseases. Order No3/2020 of the Rector of Comenius University in Bratislava] .

Keywords:

Medical biophysics, teaching face-to-face, blended learning, education of medical students, pandemic COVID-19.