Academic assessment of medical students in COVID-19 lockdown: Deciphering institutional readiness index

Abstract

Introduction: The sudden closure of medical institutions all over the country due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic mandated the medical institutions to quickly adapt to the online virtual classroom and online assessment. This study was conducted to assess the readiness of online assessment among the medical students and faculty of the institute and to identify the predictors of online theory assessment. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among medical students and faculty of AIIMS Mangalagiri. A prevalidated and pretested questionnaire with 14 items were assigned through Google Forms to the students and faculty and were asked to provide a response on a 5-point Likert scale for each item ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” separately. The nonparametric data collected from the total 112 respondents were analyzed for validity and reliability of the questionnaire, mean values to know the readiness (M = 3.4), and one-step multiple regression to know the predictors. Results: The response rate of the questionnaire was 74% (n = 112). The mean value for attitudinal readiness (AR) is calculated as 3.13 and the mean for material and technological readiness (MTR) is found to be 2.7. AR and MTR were found to be significant predictors of readiness for online assessment (P < 0.05). AR (beta coefficient 0.471) was found to be the most significant predictor than MTR (beta coefficient 0.255). Conclusion: The frequencies of responses are variable for different questionnaire items. The online theory assessment readiness score can be improved with formal training and unfolding to the online assessment.