Effect of online mode of examination on performance of students at Makerere University: a case study of School of Statistics and Planning

Abstract

The use of reflective practice by both learner and teacher is a pedagogical cornerstone for interactive discussions that replaces straight lecturing, whether in a face-to-face or online class. The study sought to find out assess the effect of online mode of examination on performance of students at Makerere university, School of Statistics. The study used primary data that was collected from school of statistics and planning at Makerere University. The study used descriptive statistics, One-way ANOVA and Multiple Linear Regression Model (MLRM) to estimate the effect of online mode of examination on student’s performance at school of statistics Makerere University Overall, the study findings showed that almost half of the respondents were males (48%) as compared to their female counterparts. Almost half of the respondents (48.6%) offered bachelor of science in quantitative economics (BSQE), 22.2% offered bachelor of statistics (BSTAT), 13.9% offered bachelor of science in actuarial science (BSAS), 12.5% offered bachelor of business statistics (BBS) and the rest did bachelor of population studies (BPS). Furthermore, more than half (81.9%) of the respondents were in academic year three and the rest were in year two. 88.9% of the students did online assignments and the rest did not do the assignments. Almost all (98.6%) of the students had done online quizzes and the rest had not. Almost half of the students were satisfied with online exams (45.8%), 20.8% were neutral, 19.5% were not satisfied with online exams, 11.1% were very satisfied, and the rest were not very satisfied. 63.9% of the students said that online exams had not increased their CGPA. The average age of the students was 23 years and the average CGPA was 3.73. The findings showed that the CGPA earned by students was 3.87 when all other factors are not there (p=0.000). Those who had done online assignments got a CGPA of 0.62 more than those who had not done online assignments (p=0.002). The study therefore recommended that the higher institutions of learning should improve the online teaching programs in terms of making it accessible to all students which may improve the performance of the students. The ministry of education and sports should subsidize online learning by providing internet access, online learning tools which may improve the performance of the students due to positive attitude towards online learning.