Romanian dental students’ learning experience related to lifestyle changes imposed by Covid-19 lockdown

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Romania was followed by the declaration of an Emergency State and the subsequent lockdown. As all the schools and universities ceased onsite activities, the teaching process continued exclusively online, on different platforms, such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this cross-sectional study is to evaluate how the lifestyle changes imposed by the Covid-19 lockdown and online lectures influenced the learning experience of Romanian dental students, as their point of view could bring new information which might contribute to improving the teaching process. METHODS: The questionnaire had 28 items, each with either a Likert Scale or a multiple-choice option and was distributed in April 2020, one month after implementation of circulation restrictions and social distancing. RESULTS: Compared to classical teaching, we found that the online teaching process had a lower efficiency, with a higher satisfaction level for online courses, but lower for online practical teaching activities. The absence of human interaction was found to be detrimental to the teaching process. CONCLUSION: Despite the lower efficiency of online learning, it was a good alternative that helped students continue their education in the situation created by the outbreak of Covid-19. For higher learning efficiency, a compromise method consisting of online courses and onsite practical training could be a better alternative.