Experiences and Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Students and Academics in Health Care Education in Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Background: In keeping with nation-wide efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) made the move towards online teaching to ensure students continue to receive their education while minimizing the risks of exposure and community spread of COVID-19. We investigated teaching and learning experiences, physical and mental health of undergraduate students and academic staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: : We conducted a cross-sectional study on undergraduate students and academic staff in a health science faculty using a self-developed pretested questionnaire through anonymous online data collection method. Results: : 56 academics (100% response rate) and 279 students (83.3% response rate) participated. The positive experiences as reported by students include: becoming independent (72.8%), adapting to online learning (67.4%) and sudden changes (62.0%), learning to manage scheduling (58.8%), and being self-motivated (57.7%); while academics’ positive experiences included new teaching techniques (50.0%), flexible schedules (50.0%), remote teaching (48.2%) and improved teaching tools (46.4%). Students reported negative experiences as being distracted at home (72.0%), feeling of uncertainty with regards to examinations (66.7%), and getting a slow response from lecturers (55.6%). With regards to health, both students and academics reported stress, anxiety, loneliness, back problems, and eye strain. Conclusion: In this challenging period towards an abrupt shift to online teaching, students and academic staff of UBD identified both positive and negative experiences including the impact on their physical and mental health. Our findings are important to provide the evidence for online pedagogical benefits and can serve to promote the enhancement and adaptation of digital technology in education. Our findings also aim to promote the importance of addressing physical and mental health issues of the university community’s well-being through provision of emotional and mental health support and appropriate programs.