Effectiveveness of e-learning in the delivery of medical and dental education in a tertiary institution in Nigeria

Background: Following the gradual shift from classroom learning to more remote settings using E-learning platforms, it has, therefore, become necessary to investigate the effectiveness and perceptions of students about online learning in respect of medical and dental education. This study aims, therefore, to determine the effectiveness of e-learning in the delivery of medical and dental education. Methods: A cohort study involving two groups of final-year medical and dental students at the University of Port Harcourt was performed. One group received 30mins online lecture while the other received 30mins physical lecture and their respective performances were assessed afterwards. A self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect additional data including sociodemographic, effectiveness of e-learning, perceptions of e-learning and classroom learning, and problems associated with online learning and classroom learning. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 27 software for Windows. Significance level was set at p<0.05. Results: Eighty-six final-year students; 74 (86.05%) medical and 12 (13.95%) dental students participated in this study. There were 34.88% males and 65.12% females, The group that had onsite lecture had a mean performance score of 2.93 while the online cohort had a mean score of 2.15. Independent samples t-test showed a statistically significant association t(84)= 3.332, p <0.05. The classroom cohort was associated with a statistically significant more effective learning. Conclusion: On-site learning was more effective than an on-line learning. The respondents also had a better perception of learning in the classroom compared to learning on-line.