Academic performance of students in the subject General and Pharmaceutical Microbiology (MGyF) in pre-pandemic, pandemic and post-pandemic periods.

BRAVI, VIVIANA S.; SILVERO C., MARÍA JAZMÍN; ROCCA, DIAMELA M.; PONCE-PONTE, MICAELA; LÓPEZ-VIDAL, LUCÍA; MÉNDEZ-IZARES, CONSUELO; ALOVERO, FABIANA L.; BECERRA, MARÍA CECILIA

Rosario

Congreso; 7ma Reunión Internacional of Pharmaceutical Science; 2023

Universidad Nacional de Rosario

It is widely known that the field of education is undergoing methodological changes caused bysocioeconomic and technological reasons. The context of the COVID19 pandemic presentedadditional challenges, necessitating the development of new teaching and assessment strategies. Theobjective of this work was to analyze the impact of the changes introduced due to the pandemic onthe academic performance of students in General and Pharmaceutical Microbiology, a subjectcorresponding to the 6th semester in the Pharmacy undergraduate program. Various aspects werecomparatively analyzed considering three periods: 1) 2018-2019 (pre-pandemic, 100% in-personactivities), 2) 2020-2021 (pandemic, 100% virtual activities) and 3) 2022 (post-pandemic, return toin-person activities). In periods (1) and (3) there were two instances of non-mandatory writtenevaluations, addressing 50% of the contents in the middle of the semester and the remaining 50% atthe end of it. During the intra-pandemic period (2), only one integrative evaluation was implementedthrough the University´s Moodle platform, carried out after completing all the proposed activities. Inall cases, a minimum of 60% correct answers was required to pass the exam, assigning 6 points on ascale of 1-10. An average of 84 students per year took the evaluations in the entire period analyzed.Participation in the evaluation instances was variable and without a defined pattern, being 85%, 65%,86%, 83%, and 74% of the total students authorized to take the subject in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021,and 2022, respectively. Interestingly, an increase was observed in the percentage of students whopassed evaluations in relation to those who participated, being 41%, 55%, 75%, 80%, and 71.4% forthe years 2018 to 2022, respectively. It is worth noting that during the intra-pandemic period (2),both participation rates in the evaluation instances and pass rates increased. Considering all studentsauthorized to take this subject in each of the 3 periods under analysis, in (1) pre-pandemic, 52% ofthe students passed the evaluations, with the average score being 7.68 points. The percentagereached 75% during the pandemic period (2), with the average score being 7.72 points. Surprisingly,only 33% of the total students passed the evaluations in the last period analyzed (3), although theaverage score was 7.96 points. The increase in the performance in the intra-pandemic period couldbe attributed to factors such as greater availability of study time due to health restrictions in timesof pandemic. Although it seems that the implementation of various virtual activities during thesemester contributed to the learning of the topics addressed, the acquisition of practical skills andabilities in experimental laboratories as part of comprehensive training was affected. The lowpercentage obtained in the evaluation instances in 2022, the first year of return to in-personactivities, should be analyzed in the future to determine whether it is an isolated case or if there arereasons that warrant modification. The COVID-19 pandemic led each institution to adapt and modifyteaching methods. Virtual strategies have contributed to improving academic performance inevaluation instances. These results provide valuable information to continue navigating the changinglandscape of higher education, giving continuity to activities in hybrid contexts that complementactivities at the university.