Interactive teaching enhances students' physiological arousal during online learning

The pure transfer of face-to-face teaching to a digital learning environment can be accompanied by a sig-nificant reduction in the physiological arousal of students, which in turn can be associated with passivity during the learning process, often linked to insufficient levels of concentration and engagement in the course work. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether students' psychobiological stress responses can be enhanced in the context of anatomical online learning and how increased physiological parameters correlate with characteristics of learning experiences in a digital learning environment. Healthy first-year medical students (n = 104) experienced a regular practical course in Microscopic Anatomy either in face-to-face learning, in passive online learning or in an interaction-enhanced version of online learning. Compared to passive online learning, students engaged in the interaction-enhanced version of online learning displayed a significantly reduced Heart Rate Variability (P 0.001, partial 112 = 0.381) along with a strong increase in salivary cortisol (P 0.001, partial 112 = 0.179) and salivary alpha-amylase activity (P 0.001, partial 112 = 0.195). These results demonstrated that the physiological arousal of students engaged in online learning can be enhanced via interactive teaching methods and pointed towards clear correlations between higher physiological responses and elementary criteria of learning experience such as engagement and attention.(c) 2023 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to investigate whether students' psychobiological stress responses can be enhanced in the context of anatomical online learning and how increased physiological parameters correlate with characteristics of learning experiences in a digital learning environment. The results showed that compared to passive online learning, students engaged in the interaction-enhanced version of online learning displayed a significantly reduced Heart Rate Variability, along with a strong increase in salivary cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase activity. These findings demonstrate that the physiological arousal of students engaged in online learning can be enhanced via interactive teaching methods and highlight the correlation between higher physiological responses and elementary criteria of learning experience such as engagement and attention.