Students’ Voices on Online Classes during COVID-19 Pandemic
. Yangzom *
Research and Industrial Linkages, Gedu College of Business Studies, Royal University of Bhutan, Chukha, Bhutan.
Phub Dorji
Language, Gedu College of Business Studies, Royal University of Bhutan, Chukha, Bhutan.
Sonam Yonten
ICT and Physics, Gongzim Ugyen Dorji Central School, Haa, Bhutan.
Tshering Tshomo
Language, Gongzim Ugyen Dorji Central School, Haa, Bhutan.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This descriptive research involved a survey of undergraduate and graduate students in one of the business colleges under the Royal University of Bhutan. A total of 264 participants (131 female and 133 male students) responded to the questionnaire. The study was conducted for a period of one year (2020-2021). Due to the covid-19 pandemic, the researchers adopted a convenience sampling technique to select research participants. Data were collected using an online questionnaire that had Cronbach's alpha value of .895. Descriptive analyses were performed to analyze the data using SPSS software. The findings revealed that the amount of time spent by the students on computers and mobile phones for other purposes outweigh the time they spend for academic purposes. Similarly, from many applications and approaches adopted by the teachers, the majority of the students rated Zoom, followed by VLE, as a highly effective mode of online lesson delivery. Further, students perceived that online teaching promotes content-related learning, encourages equal participation among students, ensures maximum interaction between tutor and students, allows assorted assessment techniques, and receives quick responses to students’ queries from the tutors. On the contrary, the findings revealed students’ low level of satisfaction with the timing of the online sessions, teachers’ use of online teaching skills and strategies, their discomfort in communicating with the tutor and classmates electronically, time management problems associated with online classes, and tutors delay in correcting and returning students’ works. All in all, students perceive online learning as being less academically rigorous than face–to–face teaching-learning.
Keywords: Endoploidy, Assessment, Endoploidy in Scrophu-lariaceae, communication, learning opportunities, online teaching, face–to–face education, education during pandemic
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References
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