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

Relationship Between Grading and Online Teaching

There was no effect of mode of teaching on pass grades of students who followed Fisheries and
Marine Sciences Degree (p > 0.05), while it affected some Freshwater and Marine Sciences students in

a positive manner (Fig. 1). For instance, the percentage of “C” grade or better in level-III was

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significantly higher (χ = 6.29, p = 0.009) following online teaching (97%) than following the
conventional method (87%) (Fig. 1 B).

Figure 1: Effect of online teaching on pass grade of students (A: Fisheries and Marine Sciences
Degree students, B: Marine and Freshwater Sciences students, different star marks at the same
category indicate the significant different at 0.05 level)

Conclusions and Recommendations

Both students and teachers adhere to the online process since there are no other alternatives for
teaching in the education system at this transition stage. Continued exposure to digital screens causes

health issues in students including headaches and dryness of the eye. Thus, limiting online lectures to a
maximum of two hours per session is recommended. The e-learning did not negatively affect the pass

mark of the course units of FMST students. Nevertheless, it is recommended to analyse the effects of

e-learning on superiors for obtaining higher grades. As a majority of academic staff is not satisfied
with e-learning, strategies are needed to be implemented, specifically to develop interaction between

student and teacher, and teaching methods.

References

Arbaugh, J. (2000) How classroom environment and student engagement affect learning in Internet-

based MBA courses, Business Communication Quarterly, 63(4), p9-26.

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