Table 2 Thematic analysis of the feedback on CSMHEC from medical students in the experiment group (N = 188)

What’s your biggest gain from taking CSMHEC?

Helpful in emotion management (63/188)

“…know how to control my feelings effectively”

“By taking this course, I learn to manage my emotions.”

“I have a better understanding of the changes in my feelings and can adjust myself.”

“When I feel sad, I know I need to vent and do not let the feeling disturb me…”

Familiar with basic theories in Psychology (47/188)

“I learn more theories about psychology”

“...helped me understand some concepts in psychology…”

“...get some knowledge about mental health”

“After taking CSMHEC, I get to know the definition of psychology and the importance of mental health…”

Have a clearer idea about the self (28/188)

“CSMHEC makes me understand myself better…”

“I know myself better and I need to keep a positive attitude towards life.”

“…have a deeper understanding about my mental state.”

“I know what my problems are… I should not ruminate...”

Know common mental health problems among college students and strategies to cope with them (19/188)

“I’m familiar with the symptoms of depression and how to deal with it.”

“…understand the features of college students’ psychological development…”

“I know how to relax and get the strategies to cope with stress.”

“After taking CSMHEC, I get an idea about mental health problems that college students may have and what to do.”

Which aspects of CSMHEC do you think are good?

Learning in a relaxing atmosphere (56/188)

“When I am taking CSMHEC, I feel relaxed.”

“It is relaxing in class and I gain some knowledge on psychology”

“In a relaxing classroom environment, we can communicate with the teacher and classmates well…”

Interesting, vivid and informative (51/188)

“I think this course is interesting and I can learn a lot.”

“…some examples are interesting and vivid, I’m eager to learn”

“Good classroom atmosphere…I do not feel bored…get a lot of knowledge on mental health…”

Teachers are kind and patient, giving detailed explanations (35/188)

“…different modules are taught by different teachers, they are all very nice…”

“When explaining a difficult point, the teacher is very patient and set some examples for us…”

“Some theories are hard to understand. However, teacher will explain them in simple language…”

Close to college students’ real life and very practical (23/188)

“The cases in the book are about college students’ mental health problems and are very useful for us.”

“…examples are close to our real life in college…”

“…related to our life…real and practical…”

Which aspects of CSMHEC do you think need to be improved?

More interaction suggested (44/188)

“I think teachers need to have more interaction with us.”

“It is better to have more communication between the teacher and us, between our students…”

“I want to interact with teachers and classmates more.”

“…more teamwork and discussion…

“…more interesting interactive activities can be added…”

More cases preferred (37/188)

“Some cases about college students’ mental health are very interesting. I hope there are more such cases.”

“…provide more cases which are close to college students’ life…”

“Teachers can play more videos about the cases and then we can discuss...”

“I think it would be more interesting to have more cases to analyze.”

“For the course content, I want to see more cases…that are practical…”

More E-education favored (32/188)

“Teachers can use more online software to send us a survey to do, and this will attract more students to actively participate in class activities.”

“I think the electronic interaction is convenient…teachers set some questions and we answer them online, in this way, we can keep our attention on the course content, that’s good…”

“Using cell phones to do a survey online is very convenient, stimulate us to participate…”

“I think if the teacher can give us some award-winning quiz using online software, it would be interesting and attract more students to participate…”