The Impact of Online Teaching Under the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Teaching of Medical Immunology and Medical Microbiology to Second-Year Dentistry Students: A Prospective Comparative Study

Background Medical microbiology and medical immunology are required introductory courses for second-year dentistry students. It is essential to find suitable teaching methods after the outbreak of COVID-19 to implement the call for "stop class, but not stop teaching and not stop learning." Methods We mainly used Rain Classroom for online teaching and QQ Group Classroom to support education during this particular period. Result We assessed the effectiveness of this special period instruction by analyzing anonymous questionnaires and final exam results. The anonymous questionnaire showed that most of the students were satisfied with this online instruction and found it very helpful in answering their questions and solving their problems. The final exam results showed that teaching in 2020 was no worse than teaching in 2019 and better in terms of pass rate. Teaching in 2021 was worse than in 2020, but there was a breakthrough in the highest score. Conclusion These data suggest that online teaching during the epidemic had an impact on teaching effectiveness. Most students are satisfied with online teaching, but some students' grades are affected, which may be related to the fact that some students were not comfortable with blended teaching or online teaching. We share our experiences and reflections on online and blended teaching of medical immunology and medical microbiology courses during the epidemic, hoping that it will be helpful for other teachers to teach.