Perception of Dental Students towards the usage of Online Assessment during COVID -19 Pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic have forced educational institutions to shift rapidly to distance and online learning. This study aims to explore attitude and perception of dental students towards online assessment during pandemic.

Objective: To assess student’s perception, attitudes, and readiness toward online assessment.

Methodology: A self constructed questionnaire including 10 questions was designed with 5 specialists, to improve the design ambiguity. The study was conducted through electronic media.

Results: A total of 270 dental students answered the survey. The overall response rate was 70.68%. More than 50% students are well versed with online assessment. One fourth of the participants found convenience as the advantage while 64.7% students encountered technical issue as the limitation of online assessment. There was overall positive attitude towards usage of online assessment.

Conclusions: This study showed acceptable levels of individual characteristics and system ability levels as well as the perceived importance of using online tools in dental education among the participants.