Abstract
The United Arab Emirates is committed to integrating technology into higher education. In this study the researchers aim to explore the perspectives of university students on online assessments. An understanding of students’ views can help identify obstacles and promotors in embracing online assessments at the undergraduate level. The social constructivist epistemology has been used in this qualitative study to understand students’ preferences, apprehensions and acceptance of online assessments. Semi-structured focus group discussions were carried out after recruiting 41 university students, using convenience and snowball sampling methods. Thematic content analysis was applied to the data. This study highlighted that students did not comprehend the need for online assessments. Concerns regarding technological incompetence of students and teachers alongside distrust in the technology infrastructure were stressed. Students felt online assessments were restrictive for the science courses and had resulted in falling grades; probably due to the increasing dependence on multiple choice questions. Students also expressed the importance of constructive, timely and personalized feedback. Students need to be convinced of the usefulness of the transition to online assessment before they agree with it. It is evident through this study that student acceptance would increase with a gradual transition towards online assessments alongside technological training for both students and faculty. Active individualized interaction with instructors is important to students, furthermore preferences and concerns emphasized by students should be addressed to successfully integrate online assessments into higher education.
Highlights
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is committed to provide high quality modern education that is comparable to global standards of education
25% of the federal budget is allocated to education in UAE
Higher education has continued to thrive, and currently there are more than 100 universities, colleges and higher education institutes in the UAE compared to only one university in 1977 (Export.gov 2016; Mehkri 2017; Nasir 2017)
Summary
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is committed to provide high quality modern education that is comparable to global standards of education. 25% of the federal budget is allocated to education in UAE. The introduction of the ‘Smart Learning’ initiative encourages incorporation of technology in teaching and learning across all public schools in UAE (Export.gov 2016). According to the Global Competitiveness report, UAE ranks 9th in provision of internet access across its schools. Higher education has continued to thrive, and currently there are more than 100 universities, colleges and higher education institutes in the UAE compared to only one university in 1977 (Export.gov 2016; Mehkri 2017; Nasir 2017). There is a determination to incorporate technology into higher education as well, and federal universities are moving towards online teaching, learning and assessments (Export.gov 2016)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
