Online learning a struggle, say lecturers, students

Classes for university students have been held online since March as part of measures to contain the spread of Covid-19. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Many university lecturers and students are complaining of inefficiencies in the online teaching and learning that they have been going through since Malaysia began its fight against Covid-19.

Those doing courses involving heavy practical work, such as engineering and pharmacy, say they are especially affected.

For laboratory work designed to supplement normal lectures, for example, students just watch videos instead of directly doing the work.

“The lecturer in charge will have to record the lab session and students need to watch the video and prepare their reports,” said Amirah Gazzaly, who teaches at Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

However, for courses with mandatory lab work, sessions have been postponed until the students can be physically present at the university, which Amirah said would probably be next year. “This is to ensure the students will achieve the learning outcome, which is the skill to prepare products.”

She told FMT the university had been organising courses to teach lecturers how to use online tools. She said many young lecturers like her had already gained some familiarity with e-learning tools. “But the seniors prefer traditional teaching.“

She said assessing the students was an added challenge as lecturers needed to be creative to ensure they were really achieving the learning outcomes.

An engineering professor at a public university who asked to be unnamed said there was no substitute to interaction and activities involved in practical work such as laboratory sessions, workshops and conferences.

He added that a major challenge yet to be addressed was the readiness of both lecturers and students to embrace online learning.

He said some teachers might be bogged down with domestic issues that prevent their delivery and some learners might be in living conditions prohibiting reception.

Hanis Zulkifly of UiTM’s faculty of pharmacy said there was no way of knowing whether students were paying attention in the online classes.

She added that coming up with alternative assessments acceptable under the strict criteria of the Pharmacy Board was also an issue.

Aznijar Ahmad Yazid, the president of Universiti Malaya’s Academic Staff Association, said both teachers and students were ill-prepared for online lessons.

“Many are stressed out with the expectation to achieve the best output,” he said.

However, he also spoke of efforts to overcome some of the limitations.

He said students missing out on workshop or lab sessions could use in-house packages and software that mimic exercises normally done at physical facilities.

“There is also conversion from hardware practice to simulation work that can be executed from PCs or mobile devices at home,” he added.

A final semester student of construction who identified herself as Ain said fees should be reduced since many facilities had not been in use.

She said students could use the savings from the fee reduction to buy data packages for online classes.

“I do not have WiFi at home,” she said. “So I am forced to subscribe to data packages, which are quite expensive for a student.”

The senior minister for security, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, has said the public can expect an announcement soon on when universities can reopen. - FMT