Medical Students' Curiosity, Exploration and Engagement Levels in Online Learning Environments during COVID-19

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Dipper

The study investigates medical students’ curiosity, exploration, classroom engagement, and commitment within online learning settings during the COVID-19 pandemic, and analyzes relationships among these variables. A correlational design is applied, with data collected online from 618 medical students. Instruments include the Trait Curiosity and Exploration Inventory, the Student Engagement Scale in Distance Education, and Classroom Engagement for University Students. Descriptive statistics support findings that curiosity and exploration are higher than engagement perceptions in face-to-face classes, while online engagement is comparatively lower.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Distance education vs. emergency remote teaching

Engagement challenges in online learning

Study purpose

Medical Students' Curiosity, Exploration and Engagement Levels in Online Learning Environments during COVID-19 Çetin Toraman Asst. Prof., Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey, [toramanacademic@gmail.com](toramanacademic@gmail.com) Covid-19 pandemic has had a great impact on the educational practices throughout the world and tremendously effected the way we teach and learn. This study aims to examine the levels of medical students’ curiosity and exploration, classroom engagement and commitment to online learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to analyze the relationship between these variables. This study employs a correlational research approach method. Data were collected online from 618 students who study at the faculty of medicine using “Trait Curiosity and Exploration Inventory”, “Student Engagement Scale in Distance Education” and“Classroom Engagement for University Students” and analyzed through descriptive statistics. The results revealed that the curiosity and exploration levels of the students are higher than their perception of engagement in the face-to-face classes whereas it is lower in student engagement in online learning environment. Perception level of curiosity and exploration estimates cognitive level activities more than behavioral and affective level activities. Keywords: covid-19, distance education, classroom engagement, curiosity, online learning environment INTRODUCTION The term "distance education" is used as a form of education in which educators, learners and sources do not coexist, and do not share the same physical learning environment. Distance education, which started with the use of letters and continued with the use of internet, has developed into a new era during the Covid-19 pandemic due to the closure of the schools and universities. However, we have tobe careful about using the term “distance education” owing to the fact that it refers to a process which requires a careful planning, design and development of certain objectives to create an effective learning ecology (Bozkurt & Sharma, 2020) . Therefore, this process during the Covid-19 pandemic have been expressed using different terms in different countries (e.g., distance education, e-learning, online education, homeschooling, etc.) . Researchers conducting studies in the fields of distance education and instructional technology suggest it is better to use the term "emergency remote teaching (ERT)" rather than “distance education" as this educational process is carried out under extraordinary conditions. The term “distance education” does not fully cover those applied when education is interrupted due to the conditions similar to pandemic. Instead, it could be more convenient to use the term “emergency”. In addition, the focus on the concept of "teaching" instead of “education” stems from the fact that this process is carried out under the responsibility of the educators. Another difference between“emergency remote teaching” and “distance education” is that ERT is a need or necessity due to crisis circumstances while distance Education refers to an alternative or option. It is very important to approach these terms within this context as using inappropriate terms or definitions may result in wrong practices. Furthermore, distance education is a carefully planned process, and it is based on theoretical and practical knowledge specific to the field it is applied. Emergency remote teaching isabout keeping education alive with all available resources (offline and online) in crisis circumstances. Citation: Toraman, Ç . (2021) . Medical students' curiosity, exploration and engagement levels in online learning environments during covid-19. Anatolian Journal of Education, 6(2), 27-36. [https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2021.623a](https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2021.623a) In this context, it is very important to create a learning environment that supports different types of interaction in order to ensure both c

FAQs

What does the study aim to examine about medical students during COVID-19?

It examines levels of medical students’ curiosity and exploration, classroom engagement, and commitment to online learning environments during the COVID-19 pandemic, and analyzes how these variables relate.

How were data collected for the study?

Data were collected online from 618 medical students using three instruments: the Trait Curiosity and Exploration Inventory, the Student Engagement Scale in Distance Education, and Classroom Engagement for University Students.

What key results are reported about curiosity, exploration, and engagement?

Results indicate that students’ curiosity and exploration levels are higher than their engagement perceptions in face-to-face classes, while student engagement in online learning environments is lower.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Dipper