Evaluating the effect of two methods of virtual and traditional education on parasitology course scores of laboratory science students in Mashhad

Education experts believe that traditional learning patterns can not meet the needs and challenges that human beings will face in the future. Virtual and Video-based teaching has been hailed as a new way of learning educational skills. In this study, which is a quasi-experimental study in the field of research in education, the research population included all laboratory science students at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. The topics of the parasitology course were presented in 8 separate sessions with the traditional method in the control group and in the virtual education process for the case group. Independent t-test was used to compare the mean of total scores in two educational methods. Mann-Whitney test was used to compare the scores of the sections in two educational methods. Data were analyzed in SPSS software version 28. A significance level of 5% was considered. There was no statistically significant difference between men and women in the two groups (p-value = 0.689; χ2 = 0.160). The mean total score in face-to-face method (15.09 37 3.37) and virtual method (16.28 3 3.00) was not statistically significant (p-value = 0.098; t = 1.675). There is almost general agreement among researchers on the usefulness of computer-assisted and multimedia education in advancing students' cognitive learning. Based on the findings of this study, the combined use of class-based methods and face-to-face communication in some sessions and virtual methods based on showing videos in other sessions can be suggested as an effective method in teaching basic science courses.