Semarang – The Bachelor of Communication Studies Program has conducted the Mid-Semester Examination (UTS) for one week starting April 5, 2021. However, the Covid-19 pandemic is still an obstacle to implementing offline UTS so that even this semester UTS is still carried out online. Online UTS is carried out by utilizing Kulon Undip facilities, Microsoft Teams, Whatsapp, and other learning support applications.

The UTS system made by lecturers also varies; starting from filling in questions with a deadline according to the lecture schedule, some are using a presentation scoring system, and some are taking home with a long deadline. Both online and offline UTS have their respective advantages and disadvantages. Students who have experienced offline UTS certainly feel a significant difference. Meanwhile, new students most likely do not have an idea of ​​how the offline UTS will work.

One of the 2020 generation of Communication Science students, Syahida Alam Gitanjali, felt that online UTS was very efficient because students could pay in installments for the UTS work, especially for courses with a long collection deadline. Alam also felt that he did not have any significant difficulties during the online UTS implementation.

“Maybe the Kulon Undip website still likes errors, but that doesn’t bother me either,” said Alam.

Similar to Alam, Krisnina Maharani, who is currently a student of Communication Science class 2019, also feels that she is used to facing online UTS. According to her, online UTS is done because they have to adapt to the current situation, like it or not students have to adapt to the online system in every lecture agenda. At this UTS moment, Nina no longer felt the obstacles that bothered her.

“So far, I no longer have problems when collecting UTS in Kulon. Unlike the UTS in previous semesters, SIAP often made errors suddenly and interfered with the process of collecting UTS answers in Kulon, “added Nina.

During this semester’s online UTS, Alam and Nina agreed that the UTS questions prepared by the lecturers were very clear and the lecturers had played a very good role. They admitted that the lecturer had explained everything related to the UTS such as the grid, how it was done, and the scoring system the week before the UTS took place. Lecturers also allow students to ask questions that are not yet understood and ensure that all students have the same understanding.

Nina and Alam welcomed UTS online with sufficient preparation. According to Alam, the right learning strategy so that he can understand the material is to study with friends, group discussions, and make a summary of the material for each subject. Meanwhile, Nina prefers to re-watch the screen record of every online lecture meeting at Microsoft Teams.

Both of them also feel comfortable with UTS online. According to Alam, he is comfortable with UTS online because it is more flexible so that he has more time to do things outside of lectures. As for Nina, even though she feels comfortable with online UTS, she admits that online UTS is easier to get distracted due to family members’ activities at home. However, both of them still expect offline lectures as soon as possible.

“Hopefully we can go offline and being able to have the face-to-face lectures because I am too bored at home, let alone have to deal with laptops every day,” said Nina.

Writer: Dinda Khansa Berlian

Reporter: Kartika Conny Dwikananda

Editor: Dian Rahma Fika Alnina