PERCEPTION OF ONLINE VERSUS PHYSICAL LEARNING AMONGUNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Objectives: To assess the perception of online versus face-to-face learning among medical and non-medical university students of Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Karachi, Pakistan, from November 2021 to May 2022. Two hundred individuals were selected by employing non-probability sequential sampling based on the inclusion criteria. Informed consent was obtained from each study participant. The data was collected online via Google Forms. A structured, self-designed questionnaire was used to gather data. The chi-square statistic was used to evaluate the relationship between gender, teaching institute, knowledge, attitude, and practice. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of the participants was 20.65 ± 2.13 years, and the proportion of males was 28.5% (n=57). The sample comprised 67% (n=134) medical and 33% (n=66) non-medical students. On-campus learning was the preferred mode of learning for 70.9% (n=95) of medical students and 72.7% (n=48) of non-medical students (p=0.787). Online teaching had a greater effect on the social life of non-medical students than medical students (p=0.042). Female participants identified poor internet connection (p=0.006) and family distractions (p=0.024) as barriers to online learning. Conclusion: It was found that university students preferred face-to-face learning, regardless of the faculty they belonged to. However, medical students were more self-satisfied with online learning as it was time-saving, allowed them to learn at their own pace, provided continued access to online material, and offered the opportunity to study in comfortable surroundings compared to non-medical students.