Universities have quickly shifted to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study compared two versions—emergency remote teaching (ERT) and conventional face-to-face class (FFC)—of a course design based on the instructional design ARCS model for effectiveness and issues. The current study comprised 46 third-year nursing students who attended an FFC course in 2019, and 56 third-year students who took the ERT version in 2020. Students’ self-rated goal attainment and knowledge of genetics scores were compared before and after taking the courses. Scores between the two class types were compared using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. The students’ worksheets were evaluated using keyword frequency and content analyses. Both classes achieved their goals satisfactorily, and this study confirmed that for this course, ERT was as effective as FFC. A comparison of the increase in domain goal attainment scores per student showed that only the psychomotor domain item, “I can fully explain human diversity using genomic information”, was significantly different, as it was significantly higher for ERT (p = 0.003). This higher item in the ERT group suggests that ERT can pose a lack of practice caution in acquiring nursing skills.

Students’ interests help determine their learning effectiveness and knowledge acquisition and retention. It is necessary to confirm whether there is a difference in the way in which content being learned is remembered by the content type. In this study, we examined the characteristics of nursing students’ retention of physiological knowledge and environmental knowledge by utilizing scores obtained in class. The participants comprised 57 nursing students who had taken a class twice—once in their second year and once in their third year. Before and after each class, students completed an 11-question survey with human health and comfort items based on nursing core competencies and Sphere standards. The correct answer rate was calculated using a logistic regression model to account for inter- and intra-individual variations. The estimated correct answer rate per individual showed one of three trends: (1) increasing and decreasing depending on the lesson topic (knowledge type), (2) increasing overall after decreasing, and (3) increasing gradually. Physiological knowledge was retained well, whereas knowledge pertaining to the environment was retained poorly. Even with knowledge of the environment, the knowledge that students apply to their daily lives and social events was maintained.