A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF HISTOLOGY TEST OF ANATOMY BEFORE AND DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC MODES OF TEACHING AND LEARNING.

Background: The occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a swift transition from traditional face-to-face education to online learning modalities. This study investigates the impact of this transition on student performance in Anatomy and Histology tests at Fatima Jinnah Medical University, Lahore, aiming to assess the effectiveness of digital learning environments compared to conventional classroom settings. Method: A cross-sectional study design was employed to evaluate the performance of second-year MBBS students in Anatomy and Histology examinations under both traditional and online instructional methods. Data was collected on test scores and attendance rates to analyze the differences in educational outcomes between the two teaching methods. Results: The analysis showed that students achieved higher average test scores in the online assessments (67.5%) than in the traditional face-to-face method (53.7%), despite a slight decrease in attendance rates in the online set-up. Moreover, there was a noticeable variation in the distribution of high achievers and failure rates between the two assessment methodologies, indicating a complex relationship between assessment modality and student performance. Conclusions: The study emphasizes the potential of online education in enhancing student performance, highlighting the need for educational institutions to adapt and refine their teaching strategies in the wake of pandemic-induced challenges. These findings contribute to the discussion on the efficacy of online versus traditional education, suggesting that digital learning environments can effectively complement or even exceed conventional educational methods under certain conditions. Keywords: COVID-19, Online Education, Traditional Education, Medical Education, Histology Examination, Evaluation Strategies, Online Learning.