Use of Self-Assessment of Video Recording to Raise Students’ Awareness of Development of Their Oral Presentation Skills

Abstract

This paper aims to examine if using video recordings help students raise their awareness of the development of their oral presentation skills by reviewing video recordings of their presentations. For this study, all students who took a Financial Accounting class in the academic year 2018–2019 at Lincoln University (LU) were video-recorded when presenting. Participants were asked to review their video recordings, assess their performance, and record their reflections by using a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ). The results indicated that the students’ attitude toward recording the presentations was highly positive. The predominant response was that this new learning activity increased students’ awareness of the importance of presentation skills without provoking their anxiety. Participants were able to observe that certain delivery skills such as good preparation, self-confidence, eye contact, and voice quality needed improvement. For managerial implications, LU, through its Writing and Speaking Center (WSC), offered thirty-minute sessions with a presentation coach to improve students’ communication skills and prepare them to give a more polished presentation in class. In comparing the practice presentation at the WSC with the final in-class presentation, students were observed to be more confident, better prepared, and less nervous during the final presentation. However, we observed that the practice presentation did not carry the same weight as the final presentation as the practice presentation was neither graded nor delivered in front of an instructor or a wider audience.