Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Dental Education: Perception of Professors and Students

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate perception and feelings experienced by dentistry professors and students about distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifty professors and fifty-two students reported the perceptions and implications of distance learning imposed by the pandemic of COVID-19. The participants' answers were analyzed using the qualitative-quantitative method of the collective subject's discourse. The answers were summarized in central ideas, distributed in absolute and relative frequency. The answers with similar central ideas were grouped, obtaining the discourse of the collective subject. The similar central ideas about distance learning addressed by professors and students were: suitable for didactic courses; limited laboratory and clinical courses, and internet access difficulties. Specifically for professors: a complement to classroom teaching; stress and learning with digital technologies; difficulty in reconciling classes with domestic activities; concerns with motivation and interaction with students; asynchronous lectures favor knowledge fixation, and synchronous lectures favor interaction with students; unreliable assessment methods; concern about returning to face-to-face classes. For the students: it was applied to all courses; demotivating; fundamental to guide studies; professors' commitment; long lectures; excessive school activities; difficult attendance control and evaluation; the comfort of being at home; impact on research. Professors considered distance learning as a learning opportunity on how to use digital technologies but too limited for lab and clinical activities and interaction with students. Students found it discouraging due to the absence of practical classes and excessive school activities.