Effective Teaching and Examination Strategies for Undergraduate Learning During COVID-19 School Restrictions

Abstract

On Friday, March 13, 2020, all school teaching in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies was suspended until further notice because of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. This immediately jeopardized the completion of course content at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine campus. This article presents effective teaching and examination strategies that can be utilized in teaching undergraduates during COVID-19 school restrictions. The introductory digital electronics course of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of the West Indies will be utilized to demonstrate the merits of these strategies. The research will focus on demonstrating that the teaching methodologies utilized avoided the student performance from degrading below what has been experienced in the past 5 academic years. Student feedback on the methodology utilized is also incorporated in this article to highlight key benefits gained by students.

Hike in student suicides – Consequence of online classes?

“…While it is enough that classes are held online the confusion regarding the exams continues. Most of the exams stay postponed, others cancelled as many of the state governments took decision on not conducting the exam - seen the existing situation and decided on evaluating students based on previous assessments ( Bisht et al, 2020 ; George, 2020 ; Iacobucci, 2020 ).…”

Teaching during Covid-19: Teacher and Students’ Experience

“…The scholars found that in the Covid-19 emergency situation, teachers have almost turned overnight, into both designers and tutors, using tools which few have fluently mastered (Rapanta et al, 2020). Educational institutions that have followed the UGC guidelines set for the smooth functioning of online teaching demonstrated that effective teaching and examination strategies during COVID-19 school restrictions and timely feedback from students had enhanced student learning (George, 2020). This study has stressed the need for understanding activities and strategies to be undertaken postpandemic, ensure the continuity of online learning (George, 2020).…”

“…Educational institutions that have followed the UGC guidelines set for the smooth functioning of online teaching demonstrated that effective teaching and examination strategies during COVID-19 school restrictions and timely feedback from students had enhanced student learning (George, 2020). This study has stressed the need for understanding activities and strategies to be undertaken postpandemic, ensure the continuity of online learning (George, 2020). Kemp & Grieve (2014) sought to understand the psychology of students regarding their preferences for learning modes versus academic outcomes.…”

Knowledge exploration–exploitation and information technology: crisis management of teaching–learning scenario in the COVID-19 outbreak

“…In recent times of the COVID-19 pandemic, YouTube has become an essential hub for virtual learning and video sharing of a presentation session of education activities. This platform is a valuable learning tool that a teacher or an instructor can use to make their online learning courses and knowledge transfer process to be more interactive and informative (George 2020). Through this platform, students and teachers feel enjoyable with the instructive presentation and these online videos can be watched and re-watched many times by the students.…”