Perceptions of undergraduate students of allied health sciences program toward online assessments

Poornima Baby; Sumithra C N Unni; Natasha Radhakrishnan; Suja Gopalakrishnan; Anu Sasidharan; Suchithra Sivadas

doi:10.4103/AMJM.AMJM_5_23

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Year : 2023 | Volume : 19 | Issue : 1 | Page : 25-28

Perceptions of undergraduate students of allied health sciences program toward online assessments

Poornima Baby¹, Sumithra C N Unni², Natasha Radhakrishnan³, Suja Gopalakrishnan⁴, Anu Sasidharan⁵, Suchithra Sivadas⁶
¹ Department of Microbiology, Amrita School of Medicine, Amrita Vishwavidyapeetham, AIMS, Kochi, Kerala, India
² Department of Biochemistry, Amrita School of Medicine, Amrita Vishwavidyapeetham, AIMS, Kochi, Kerala, India
³ Department of Ophthalmology, Amrita School of Medicine, Amrita Vishwavidyapeetham, AIMS, Kochi, Kerala, India
⁴ Department of Physiology, Amrita School of Medicine, Amrita Vishwavidyapeetham, AIMS, Kochi, Kerala, India
⁵ Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Amrita School of Medicine, Amrita Vishwavidyapeetham, AIMS, Kochi, Kerala, India
⁶ Department of Paediatrics, Amrita School of Medicine, Amrita Vishwavidyapeetham, AIMS, Kochi, Kerala, India

Date of Submission	17-Feb-2023
Date of Decision	11-Mar-2023
Date of Acceptance	11-Mar-2023
Date of Web Publication	28-Mar-2023

Correspondence Address:
Sumithra C N Unni
Department of Biochemistry, Amrita School of Medicine, Amrita Vishwavidyapeetham, AIMS Ponekkara PO, Kochi 682041, Kerala
India

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None

DOI: 10.4103/AMJM.AMJM_5_23

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic changed the pattern of learning from regular face-to-face classes to entirely digital and virtual learning. Assessments also had to be, and were, conducted online. Hence, we thought of assessing the level of satisfaction toward this mode of assessment among the allied health students in our institute. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the level of satisfaction and usefulness with the online practical and theory assessments among different phases of allied health sciences students belonging to different programs. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was prepared after discussions among faculty members of the medical education department, appropriately validated and administered as Google Forms to the participants. Consecutive sampling technique was followed. Of the total 59 participants, 31 belonged to BSc Optometry and 28 belonged to BSc. Medical laboratory technology (MLT) courses. Results: The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of satisfaction of online theory/ practical assessments among the students of BSc. MLT was 5.893 ± 2.097 and BSc. Optometry was 6.194 ± 2.227. Usefulness of online theory/ practical assessments in testing knowledge and practical skills of BSc. MLT was 5.607 ± 2.061 and BSc. Optometry was 6.419 ± 2.363. Both of these were not found to be statistically significant. The median (Q1–Q3) of usefulness of online assessment in testing practical skills of students among the four phases was 5(2–6), 3(2–3), 2(2–6) and 3(3–5) and was found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: Most of the students felt that online assessments were useful only for theory examinations and that this modality was unsuitable to test practical skills.

Keywords: Allied health sciences, online assessments, satisfaction, usefulness

How to cite this article:
Baby P, N Unni SC, Radhakrishnan N, Gopalakrishnan S, Sasidharan A, Sivadas S. Perceptions of undergraduate students of allied health sciences program toward online assessments. Amrita J Med 2023;19:25-8

How to cite this URL:
Baby P, N Unni SC, Radhakrishnan N, Gopalakrishnan S, Sasidharan A, Sivadas S. Perceptions of undergraduate students of allied health sciences program toward online assessments. Amrita J Med [serial online] 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 4];19:25-8. Available from: https://ajmonline.org.in/text.asp?2023/19/1/25/372707

Introduction

With the onset of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, educational institutions around the world had to switch gears to an online web-based training approach.^[1] This included utilization of online platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft teams to enable rapid dissemination of knowledge and information. This caters to the needs of a larger audience including students belonging to medical and other allied specialities. A few of the proven advantages of online learning are accessibility, affordability, and ease of delivery which help in collaborative and exploratory learning.^[2] It has also promoted the concept of self-directed learning among medical students which was not stressed during the pre-pandemic era. This has also helped the medical educators to take on the role of facilitators rather than merely a disseminator of knowledge.^[3]

The need to promote students to the next academic level necessitates the conduct of assessments also in online mode. Apart from creating a stress-free environment for the student, online assessments also help in overcoming barriers like the need for examination halls, stationery, travel, and accommodation.^[4]

Several medical institutions opted for heterogeneous combinations of offline mode for theory assessments and online mode for practical assessment and vice versa, depending on the domain tested.^[5] This warranted the need to analyze the efficacy of online assessments being used, as also the perceptions of the main stakeholders, the students. Hence, the members of the medical education department at our institution decided to conduct a study to this effect.

Materials and Methods

This was a cross-sectional study conducted from September to October 2021 at a medical college in southern India. The study was presented to the IRB (Institutional Review Board) and was approved by the Scientific Committee. It was exempted from Ethics Committee review, in accordance with Section 4 (subsection 4.8) of the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) Guidelines for Biomedical Research viz. “Comparison of instructional techniques, classroom methods and curricula.”

Our institution conducts several allied health sciences (AHS) courses. Of these, students undergoing the medical laboratory technology (MLT) and optometry courses were included in the present study. There were a total of 50 MLT and 51 optometry students enrolled in the two courses during the study period. Of these 101 students, 35 did not consent. Thus, there were 66 participants in the study.

A questionnaire was prepared after discussions among faculty members of the medical education department at our institution. This questionnaire contained 26 items, divided into five sections to capture the students’ demographic details, personal experience, satisfaction level, usefulness, and experience with theory and practical assessments (Appendix).

Content validation of the questionnaire was done by five faculty members who were experienced in medical education and research. Since there was no similar study to decide on the sample size, a pilot study was done by administering the questionnaire to 7 of the 66 participants. Based on the feedback from the validators and the results of the pilot study, relevant changes were made to the questionnaire. This was then administered as Google forms to 59 students who formed part of the main study. The students were given adequate time to complete and submit their responses. The data so obtained were collated and analyzed.

Statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS 20 (SPSS, Chicago, Illinois). For all the continuous variables, the results are given in mean ± SD, and for categorical variables as percentage. To test the statistically significant mean/median comparison of satisfaction level, usefulness of online assessment in testing knowledge and practical skills of the student between the courses, Mann–Whitney U test was applied. To test the statistically significant mean/median comparison of satisfaction level, usefulness of online assessment in testing knowledge, and practical skills of the student among the year of study, Kruskal–Wallis test was applied and multiple comparison tests were done by using the Bonferroni test. A value of P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

There were 59 students in the main study. The distribution and demographics are represented in [Table 1]. One-third of the students were exposed to written online assessments. Network and connectivity issues were the most commonly reported technical hurdles, followed closely by difficulty in using multiple devices to aid in monitoring and submission of the answer sheets. Approximately half (49.2%) of the students felt that online exams were less stressful, due to the comfort of attempting the exam from home. Approximately 28.8% felt that the home environment was more distracting when compared to the offline assessments. Communication with the invigilator was found to be more difficult (45.8%) in online assessments.

Table 1: Distribution of study participants in the two programs and across phases

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Although 40.7% of the respondents were neutral about the fact that online assessments would affect their academic progress and achievements, 30.5% felt strongly about it. The possibility of malpractice with online assessments was felt to be a drawback according to 37.3% of students. Majority (62%) of the students felt that online assessments would evaluate all the students equally and fairly.

[Table 2] shows the level of satisfaction and usefulness of online theory/ practical assessments in testing the knowledge and practical skills of the allied health students and [Table 3] shows the year-wise distribution. [Table 4] depicts the median (Q1–Q3) usefulness of online assessment in testing practical skills of students and was found to be statistically significant. No significant difference was observed in the satisfaction or usefulness of online assessments of theory and practical among the students of the two AHS courses [Table 5] and [Table 6].

Table 2: Level of satisfaction and usefulness of online theory/ practical assessments

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Table 3: Level of satisfaction and usefulness of online theory/ practical assessments among students of different phases

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Table 4: Usefulness of online assessment in testing practical skills among students of different phases

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Table 5: Level of satisfaction and usefulness of online theory/ practical assessments among students of different programs

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Table 6: Usefulness of online assessment in testing practical skills among students of different programs

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Discussion

The COVID pandemic has significantly impacted medical education all over the world. The physical classes took a blow as they had to be converted to an online mode in order to follow the norms of social distancing.^[6] The major difficulty faced was with assessments as these have been the yardstick with which a student is declared to have progressed to the next level. Many medical schools took recourse to a hybrid mode, that is, combination of online and offline modalities. Few institutions also considered options of delaying the exams or using scores from previous assessments.^[4]

Our institution had conducted several online assessments for both continual improvement as well as for certifying of progression to the higher level. In this context, it was imperative that we as assessors take feedback from our students who are the primary beneficiaries. A few respondents from both programs of BSc. Optometry and BSc. MLT found the online theory assessments satisfactory and useful in testing knowledge. However, students of different phases observed that online assessment was not useful in testing the practical skills and this was found to be statistically significant. In a study conducted by Rafi et al.,^[1] similar findings were observed wherein the students felt that online modes of assessments did not do justice in testing practical skills. They also felt that these assessments did not provide patient contact which resulted in non-development of interpersonal communication skills.

In our study we found that network and connectivity issues posed the maximum difficulty during online assessments, yet, majority of the students did not complain of any constraints in submission of the answer papers on time. This is in concordance with the results of a study by Fatima et al.^[4] In spite of connectivity issues being a major concern among the students, majority of them felt that time constraints in the form of prompt submission of the answer papers was not a significant problem.

Viva-voce being a good tool for online theory assessments was agreed upon by 25.4% of students. Common reasons cited for the same were less chance for malpractice and doing away with time constraints. Advantages of online theory assessments according to our students were that they were more comfortable and practical during the pandemic. A few suggestions given by them to improve online practical exams were to include more number of viva-voce although most of them mentioned that practical exams could be postponed to a later date so as to conduct them in an offline mode. A study conducted by Tai et al.^[7] mentions the utility of introducing technology in assessments provided it does not differentiate between tech-savvy and the not-so students. While comparing the usefulness and satisfaction of these online assessments between programs, no significant differences were found.

Although the study had a few limitations in the form of small number of participants owing to difficulty in contacting them during the pandemic, the results we obtained were substantial. Most of the students who undertook online assessments were of the opinion that these assessments were useful only for the conduct of theory examinations. Practical examinations conducted by this mode were unsatisfactory as they did not test the skills of the students. From the medical education perspective, we feel that a judicious mix of both types of assessment, with better infrastructure for the online variety, is the way forward, especially considering the possibility of such situations arising in the future.

Authors’ Contribution

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and conceptualization were done by Poornima Baby and Sumithra N. Unni C. First draft of the manuscript was written by Poornima Baby and Sumithra N. Unni C. The manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors, the requirements for authorship as stated earlier in this document have been met, and each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

References

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