Microsoft Word - IJHHS IMAM 23rd ASC 2022


  
 

 S31

Do Medical Students Like Pre-recorded Lectures? An Insight from Pharmacology Teaching  
 
Elsa Haniffah Mejia Mohamed1 and Nur Lisa Zaharan1  
  
Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced academic institutions to move many of their face-to-
face teaching and learning activities online. The Medical Education Research and Development Unit 
(MERDU), Universiti Malaya had instructed that all lectures to be prepared beforehand as pre-recorded 
voiced-over lecture slides to allow for more flexibility for students. This study aimed to see if Stage 1 
and Stage 2 medical students appreciated the changes made for online learning and if the changes could 
be maintained after the movement control order (MCO) is over.    
Methods: Longitudinal comparison of feedback obtained from traditional face-to-face pharmacology 
teaching to pre-clinical Stage 1 and Stage 2 students from the 2018/2019 cohort with the 2020/2021 
cohort was carried out.  Student feedback scores on the effectiveness of having pre-recorded lectures in 
assisting them to achieve learning objectives were collected. Open-ended students’ feedback including 
preferences and suggestions for changes was also noted.  A two-tailed Student’s t-test was used to 
compare the scores, and p<0.05 was taken as significant.   
Results: The total number of respondents was 790 and 774, for the 2018/2019 and 2020/2021 cohorts, 
respectively. A total of 45 teaching sessions were included for each cohort.  The average score 
comparison between the 2018/2019 and 2020/2021 cohorts was statistically very significant 
(p<0.00005, mean 4.44±0.25 and 4.700.16, respectively). 40 out of 45 sessions had either quizzes or 
case-based learning during their synchronous sessions. These helped students understand the topics 
better, while the lecturers noted positive interactions with the students.   
Conclusion: Changes made to accommodate online teachings had resulted in a positive learning 
experience for pre-clinical pharmacology students. With these results, it is likely that pre-recorded 
lectures to support flexible learning as well as interactive discussion/quiz approach during face-to-face 
sessions, may be adopted as the mainstay of pharmacology teaching in the future.    
  
Keywords: COVID-19 learning, Asynchronous, Pre-recorded lectures, Active learning  
 

1. Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala 
Lumpur  

  

 

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Correspondence to:  

Elsa Haniffah Mejia Mohamed, Medical Lecturer, Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Medicine, 
Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. elsa@ummc.edu.my 

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31344/ijhhs.v7i70.533