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© Proceedings of the Ruhuna Quality Assurance Sessions 2021 (RUQAS 2021)
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21 September 2021

Major reasons behind aforementioned selection were the interruption of the internet service, and high
data usage during video conferencing. However, a considerable proportion (41%) of the students

highlighted the importance of visual interaction with the lecturer to maintain a live classroom

experience in e-learning.

In response to teaching aids used in e-learning, the majority (84 %) of students preferred PowerPoint
presentations followed by LMS based assignments, formal discussions, and activity-based discussions

respectively. Overall, students were more willing to accept both online and conventional lectures (60.5
%) than a single mode of teaching either online or conventional.

Responses of Academic Staff

Similar to the student’s choice, the majority of the academic staff members (59 %) prefer to conduct
online lectures in the morning hours from 8.00-12.00 noon for a maximum duration of either one and

half hours or two hours. Fewer disturbances and the freshness of the day are the major reasons for
their choice.

Power failures together with difficulties faced during logging in to zoom accounts have been identified
as the major issues when conducting online lectures at their residences as well as at the university. In

addition, academic staff members have highlighted less interaction with students as a serious concern
of online teaching. In distance education, the extent to which teachers and students can interact and

communicate well with each other decides the productivity of e-learning (Arbaugh, 2000). According to
the experiences of academic staff, 18% of staff agreed that students were not active in discussions,

while 53% said their responses were below 25%. Academic staff has indicated that certain practical

classes are possible to be conducted in online mode, while some practical classes are totally impossible
to be conducted online.

Regarding assessment methods, 35% strongly recommended viva-voce, while 71% agreed for short,

answered questions and MCQs. Essay questions with a deadline of submission as an assessment
method was strongly opposed by the majority (24%) of academic staff respondents. Compared to

conventional teaching, the majority of the academic staff (94 %) rated online teaching as either 1, 2 or

3 on the Likert scale of poor (1) to excellent (5). However, as there is no other alternative to continue
the academic activities of the faculty, e-learning was recommended by both students and academic

staff.

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