Evaluation of virtual education of parasitology course on satisfaction and learning of students in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Covid-19 pandemic using Kirkpatrick's model

The virtual education is one of the most basic teaching methods, and the movement of the educational system towards virtual education has accelerated due to the occurrence of the Covid 19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the virtual education of parasitology course on satisfaction and learning of students in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Covid-19 pandemic using Kirkpatrick's model.

The virtual education of parasitology course was evaluated using level 1 and level 2 of the Kirkpatrick Model to measure the satisfaction and learning of the participants. The satisfaction of students was measured according to participants’ responses to a standard questionnaire using a 5-point Likert Scale. In order to evaluate the effect of virtual education on students' learning, the scores of 62 students who had experienced virtual education were compared with the scores of 91 students who had completed face-to-face education in the same pre-designed test.

The results of the study showed that 16% of students were very satisfied with the quality of virtual education, 25.3% were satisfied, 30.2% were moderately satisfied, 13% were dissatisfied and 15.5% were very dissatisfied. There was no significant difference in the learning rate of students in face-to-face and virtual education (P. value=0.199).

The virtual education of parasitology course was effective on the students’ satisfaction and learning of students in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Therefore, it is recommended that virtual education can be used as a supplement to face-to-face training in the teaching parasitology course.