Survey on Students Perception towards Online Assessment Conducted During Covid 19 Pandemic

Background & objective: the present study was undertaken to determine the perception of medical students towards the online assessment in north indian medical university amidst covid-19 pandemic. materials & methods: an online questionnaire was validated and distributed among 500 medical students of a tertiary care hospital in north india. the consent was taken and the responses were analysed anonymously. it consisted of standard likert scale questions, close- ended and open-ended questions comprising a total of 22 questions. the questionnaire was grouped into 4 categories such as demographics, comparison between traditional and online assessment, advantages and limitations, and acceptance of online assessment. the responses were analysed by using descriptive analyses. results: out of the 500 students, 430 responded out of which 57.8 % were females and within 20-25yrs (86.8%). 54.6 % students found online exams less stressful, comfortable (58.13%) & within the covid norms (75.11 %). limitations included no interaction with patients (64.88%),social isolation (36.04%) & bad internet connection (80.9%). 50 % of undergraduate students preferred traditional assessment while 30% prefer blended method and least number of students preferred online assessment (20%). conclusion: the results show that undergraduate students prefer traditional than online assessment. the online assessment provides several limitations such as technical issues, no interaction with patients, etc. the student's responses provided the educators an insight into the online assessment and will help in improving the assessment method.