Abstract:

Introduction:
When the UK government imposed lockdown on 23 March 2020 to reduce spreading of Covid 19, universities quickly switched learning from face to face delivery to online learning. This quick adaptation allowed teaching and learning to continue but at what cost? How did our students cope with lockdown and at what impact on their health and studies?

Research conducted at Swansea University in April 2020 captured the thoughts and concerns of final year undergraduate taxation students. Questions asked were how they were coping with the transfer to online learning, what worked for them and what did not particularly in their exam preparation.

Educator’s perceptions of online learning were to recreate a similar experience to the usual face-to-face lecture and seminar delivery assuming that students were equally motivated and engaged with the new way of working. However, lecturers were unable to gage the effectiveness of online learning as students became invisible online, often joining the sessions anonymously without camera’s or engagement. It was impossible for lecturers to know how students were coping with the changes to their learning and which resources they found helpful to prepare them for their online examinations.

Methodology:
This study involved 165 final year undergraduate students enrolled in a taxation class who completed a voluntary questionnaire in April 2020.

Results of the study:
Results found many students had adapted well to online learning, however, some struggled but found it easier after the first few weeks. A quarter of the students experienced no problems with the transition to online learning.
Where students indicated they were struggling with their online studies 50% sought support, mainly from friends and family with some accessing university support services. Two students sought support from the medical profession.

Views of online examinations:
Most of the students were positive about online assessment (68%) with 21% unsure and just 11% having negative thoughts. Student’s comments were generally supportive of tax assessed via an online examination although some students thought an essay or piece of coursework would be more appropriate.

Effectiveness of taxation learning resources:
Some students were missing face-to-face explanations with others lacking fast and consistent Wi-Fi. Some recorded lectures were of poor quality and needed replacing.

Conclusion and lessons learned:
- A useful exercise to identify how students were coping and address additional resources prior to student’s remote exams.
- It was clear that many students found the adjustment to online learning difficult.
- Some students had technology issues
- Identified the need to get to know your students to support them better
- Future teaching resources will include short assessments to monitor student progress and identify those needing additional support.

Keywords:

Transition to online learning, online assessment, student feedback, learning resources.