Perception and Social Impact of Blackboard-Based Online Learning in a Psychology Course: Al-Qunfudhah Medical Students' Opinion

Background: Online learning was considered a novel method of teaching that affects university lifestyle and health. This study focused on online perception of Al-Qunfudhah medical students during psychology course learning and the effect of online teaching on social life.

Methods: Fifth-year students participated in an online psychology course. The online questionnaire consisted of 15 questions: three for demographic distribution, seven to assess online perception, and five to measure the effect of online teaching on students' social health. Questionnaire validity was checked by a preliminary pilot study, and Cronbach's alpha was used to assess internal consistency. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: Seventy-five (83.3%) students participated in the study: 48 (64%) female and 27 (36%) male. Fifty-eight (77.3%) medical students documented a good perception of online learning of a psychology undergraduate course, whereas 17 (22.7%) had a poor perception. Additionally, 29 (78.4%) female students reported online teaching had a significant effect on their social and psychological health (p < 0.010), whereas eight (21.6%) male students showed that online teaching does not affect their social life.

Conclusion: Al-Qunfudhah medical students, both men and women, highly participated in the psychology course online learning; however, female students were socially and psychologically affected by online learning more than male students.