E-assessment in mathematics in higher education: a student perspective

Abstract

Assessment is among the inevitable components of a curriculum and directs students’ learning. E-assessment, as prepared and administered with the use of ICT, provides opportunities to make the process easier in some aspects, but also brings certain challenges. This paper presents an e-assessment framework from a student perspective. Our study lasted for one academic year and incorporated a total of 631 students’ responses to questionnaires conducted three times in two different mathematics courses. The courses are compulsory for undergraduate informatics students. The research included a three-step factor analysis: two exploratory factor analyses and a confirmatory factor analysis. It yielded a model of a student perspective on e-assessment consisting of four factors: Transparency and fairness of assessment, Formative and summative assessment and feedback, Meaningful use of technology in assessment and Difficulty of learning outcomes. The students’ opinion about the use of e-assessment was generally positive. The students appreciated the student-centred approach based on sound pedagogical alignment of all teaching and learning elements with assessment. They found it important that technology should not distract students during assessment tasks and considered cheating in a controlled e-assessment environment to be no more frequent than in face-to-face assessment.