University Students’ E-Assessment in the Era of COVID-19 through the Eyes of Undergraduates: A Qualitative Research

Abstract

Amidst the corona-virus pandemic, universities around the globe had to switch the provision mode of higher-level education and students’ assessment from face-to-face to online ones, without adequate preparation. Given this new educational reality, this study set out to explore undergraduate Greek students’ points of view regarding the computer-based assessment that was implemented at their university Department under the covid-19 circumstances. Twenty-nine learners were purposefully and voluntarily recruited to participate in the research. Data were collected using as a research tool the spontaneous texts written by the students, while qualitative content analysis was used for the data analysis. Overall, findings indicated that most of the participated students were in disfavor with the computer-based assessment, stating mainly the disadvantages that this process entailed. As the most cited drawbacks, these were found to be the technical problems that used to arise, followed by the inadequate time assessees had for their assessment as well as the students’ concerns about academic integrity. Still, most students found their experience with the computer-based assessment conducted unique and weird. While these findings do not support previous research, they are fully discussed in terms of their implications in the article.