Teaching pre-clinical medical students remotely in Nigeria post Covid-19 pandemic: can past experiences shape future directions?

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Online teaching has gained popularity in recent years, but changes have been slower to implement in Lower or Medium Income Countries (LMIC). The aim of this research was to build upon educators' experiences of remote teaching during Covid-19 to inform the development of a blended learning approach for teaching pre-clinical subjects at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria (OAU). METHODS: The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) was used in this exploratory study. Participants were invited to either complete an online qualitative questionnaire or take part in an online structured interview, which were hosted on Microsoft platforms. Data were obtained from eighteen educators and were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Findings suggest that most educators (72%) continued to engage with remote teaching post-pandemic. All lab-based practical topics returned to being in-person, and teachers' experiences highlighted that a new blended learning approach should focus on asynchronized online teaching of didactic subjects. Five main themes captured educators' experiences and lessons learned regarding online teaching including skills and training, teachers' motivation and attitudes, internet and connectivity, learners' behaviors, and socio-economic constraints. CONCLUSION: Findings provided additional evidence on the way in which educators in LMIC would like to build upon the positive aspects of online teaching and move towards a blended learning model. However, the implementation of such an approach should consider students' and faculty's needs and socio-economic constraints.