Perception and Satisfaction of University Students’ with Online Formative Assessment

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine university students’ perception and satisfaction with online formative assessment. The study involved students who took online formative assessment for the first time and with minimal prior training and exposure to online assessment. Online assessment is an evaluation of a person's abilities, behaviors, and traits that takes place over the Internet using web technologies such as Learning Management Systems (LMS). Online assessments offer a wide range of question kinds and provide immediate personalized feedback that can help learners improve their learning and academic accomplishment. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching and assessment had not been popular in some parts of the world. However, with the pandemic, many parts of the world who knew nothing or very little about online learning, started teaching online necessitating the move towards computerization of assessment. In Kenya, learning was taken online in a hurry without training learners on how to handle both online learning and assessment. In some institutions there was no policy to anchor online learning since many Kenyans didn’t approve nor appreciate online learning. As a result, many students were apprehensive about online learning and assessment and were resisting the shift. This changed when the government openly and officially announced that education institutions should go online to prevent learning loss and to keep learners busy during lockdown. This study provides University of Kabianga second year students’ perspective and satisfaction with online formative assessment. The Constructivist Theory of Learning, which claims that learners learn best when actively engaged in learning situations rather than passively collecting information, served as the foundation for this study. The only thing that can help pupils build their own knowledge is experience. Students in this study experienced online assessment for the first time, and a feedback survey instrument modified for the LMS allowed them to express their perceptions and satisfaction.  Analysis of students’ feedback indicated that they were satisfied and had positive perception towards online formative assessment compared to face-to-face written assessments.