Abstract:
Covid-19 pandemic has made a range of hitherto less-known educational methods including online evaluation, an essential component of the teaching-learning process. However, online evaluation conditions are not yet optimized to meet the educational and socio-economic situations of the country. In this regard, online evaluation experiences can play a critical role. This study firstly discusses the steps taken to optimize the online evaluation conditions used for the online presentation assessment and subsequently, student feedback on the above assessment experience. Online evaluation of the student presentations of the final year industrial training programme of the undergraduates (n=125) following three BSc programmes at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna were conducted. Students were given a questionnaire containing a series of statements and asked to give their feedback on a five-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was administered using a Google Form. The comparative analysis was conducted using descriptive statistical methods, the Chi-square test, and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank. Students gave significantly positive responses for 8 of the 12 statements. They were; easiness, easy to follow guidelines, systematic nature, interaction with evaluation panel, answering via zoom, conveying specific skills, playing online presentations less anxious than conventional presentations. Significantly negative responses were received for two statements; 1) difficulties due to the use of electronic devices for a long time and 2) anxiousness about the technical problems that may occur during the sessions. Students strongly agreed that they are competent with using online tools. Females showed significantly higher competency levels for online software tools than males. More students preferred online presentation-evaluation (54.3%) than conventional face-to-face presentation-evaluation (36.3) %, while others noticed no difference between the two methods. Students’ views on their online presentation-evaluation experience were that there is a conducive environment for the assessment adopted. Students preferred online rather than conventional mode for presentation evaluation.
