Students’ Perceptions of their Online Communication with their Instructor, in an Undergraduate Communication Skill Classroom

Proceedings of The 5th International Conference on Advanced Research in Education, Teaching and Learning

Year: 2021

DOI:

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Students’ Perceptions of their Online Communication with their Instructor, in an Undergraduate Communication Skill Classroom

Niranjana Dhawan, Ann Rosnida Md Deni

ABSTRACT: 

Covid-19 pandemic has drastically changed higher education teaching and learning. In Malaysia, physical university classes were substituted with fully online classes, overnight. Being new at online teaching, many educators struggled with communicating with their students, online. This study explores the impact of an instructor’s online communication strategies on her students’ perceptions of learning, the subject conveyor, and the subject. The study was conducted in a fully online Communication Skills subject for second-year undergraduates and action research approach was used. Data shows that many students benefitted from communication strategies adopted but mixed result is reported on some aspects of communication particularly on clarity of instructions. When teaching online, extra attention must be paid to communicating with learners so messages do not get misinterpreted and effective strategies are put in place for exchange of written messages so that the message is not misconstrued. Finally, implication on strategies for improved online communication for future classes is provided.

keywords: action research; clarity; Covid-19; e-learning; interaction.