Faculty perceptions on online education in a school of pharmacy during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: To determine the perception of pharmacy faculty towards online education at the School of Pharmacy at the Lebanese International University upon the sudden shift to remote education due to COVID19. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive, quantitative study was conducted through a questionnaire administered to faculty members. It inquired about institutional educational changes and measured faculty perceptions towards this new educational method. Results: About 79% of the faculty responded to the survey (N = 49) and only 24.5% had previous experience with online education (N = 12). The majority (75.5%) used blended methods for course delivery (N = 37). More than half (N = 27) were generally undecided whether online learning was better or worse than normal education. More than 55% of the respondents showed high positive perceptions regarding remote education (N = 27). Conclusion: The preliminary findings reflect that faculty are still uncertain regarding the prompt educational shift to online learning, however, faculty members felt that better opportunities and enhanced experience for students may be provided through additional faculty support and training.