Enhancing presentation skills: a comparative study of students' performance in virtual and physical classrooms

Abstract

This study aimed to establish how virtual classrooms play a crucial role in helping shy students overcome their public speaking anxiety and perform well in a presentation assessment. An in-depth analysis was carried out to show how virtual classrooms are effective scaffolding platforms for students with public speaking anxiety (PSA). The performance of 98 students in presentation assessments in two different settings—physical classrooms and virtual classrooms—was compared and thoroughly investigated. It was found that shy students who had not performed well in the presentation assessment in physical classrooms could perform relatively better in virtual classrooms due to the advantages exclusively available to them. Seven key factors that inhibit student performance in assessments in physical classrooms and seven key factors that facilitate student performance in virtual classrooms are identified.