Evaluating Student Satisfaction with Remote Learning in a Veterinary School

Abstract

Veterinary college curricula are generally offered through face-to-face lectures and laboratories. However, because of the COVID-19 global pandemic, entire veterinary curricula throughout the United States were forced to utilize remote learning with large portions of courses provided through synchronous or asynchronous delivery platforms employing video portal systems in spring 2020. The purpose of this study was to examine the satisfaction of veterinary students who were taught through remote learning with the option of synchronous live streaming lectures or asynchronous recorded lectures for a portion of 1 semester. This study also examined student satisfaction by comparing two cohorts of students taught via remote learning during the same semester (semesters 2 and 4 in the curriculum). The sample population consisted of a convenience sample of 242 veterinary students from one large southeastern veterinary college, who were asked to complete the end-of-semester course evaluation, which included five statements pertaining to remote learning. This study was performed to provide insight into changes that could be considered in the future as veterinary education seeks to utilize advancing technology and increase flexibility in learning while still providing high-quality education. Measures of dispersion and frequency were used to analyze the data. Veterinary students in this study preferred watching recorded lectures to streaming live lectures. Additional responses indicated overall agreement from both groups regarding lecture length, support for remote learning, and available resources for remote learning.