Enhancing the Quality of Online Assessment in Higher Education

Abstract

The devastating effect of Covid-19 have prompted educational practitioners to maximise efforts for ensuring continuous teaching, learning and assessment, by making use of instructional and assessment methods that do not involve human contact. The use of eLearning has since gained momentum, used for curriculum instruction and assessment. The purpose of this study was to establish the authenticity online assessment as used in higher education institutions, with the aim of advancing a model for ensuring an effective online assessment of curriculum content during and post-Covid-19 era. A desktop research methodology was used to gather data for the study. Published research articles on the challenges and effectiveness of online assessment were traced, reviewed and analysed according to predetermined topics of research interests. The findings from the review informed the themes that were interpreted and discussed as ultimate answers for the study. The interpretation of the themes draws insights from literature evidence and current observations in the field of online assessment. The study established that online assessment was characterised by challenges that compromised its authenticity, thus not contributing to the effective mastery of learning outcomes by students. As students attempt assessment tasks on their own, it was difficult to establish if the submitted work was indeed their own or not. In addition, assessment tasks were too many and impractical for students to handle in a given time. Covid-19 pandemic requires that higher education institutions consider employing online instruction and assessment. However, online assessment methods should be authentic in design and implementation to reflect good quality teaching and learning. The study recommends that higher educational institutions should use online assessment methods that enhance objective and credible assessment such as administering synchronous activities and by customising assessment tasks for students.