e-Assessment

What is it?

e-Assessment refers to the use of technology to manage and deliver assessment. e-Assessment can be used in a blended assessment model to deliver diagnostic, formative and summative assessment. This can vary from being an online objective test (i.e. multiple choice questionnaire) where students download the test and subsequently upload their answers to a self & peer assessment exercise, underpinned by specific technology, in which students are required to assess each other's work on the basis of given criteria. e-Assessment can be used across a range of subjects particularly popular the in engineering, science, medical sciences and language disciplines.

Why use it?

e-Assessment can be used to test basic knowledge, or more complex and sophisticated concepts, depending on the level the student has reached, the subject and the intended learning outcomes. e-Assessment has many strengths, these include:

the potential to enable students to self assess (privately and on multiple occasions)
to help students identify where their knowledge is strong or weak and seek help where necessary to improve their knowledge / performance
the facility for students to be assessed in different geographical locations and at different times
the ability for staff to provide students with timely and effective feedback on their work
the opportunity to offer a different form of assessment, normally as part of a blended model, in order to evaluate and test particular skills or knowledge that traditional forms of assessment cannot.

But …some issues at “start up”

it requires an investment up front to establish the materials/content, but can enable gains once the assessment is established.
Arrangements have to be put in place to ensure that the e-assessment is secure, reliable , and valid, especially for summative assessment and if students are not monitored when they complete the assessment.
MCQs can be perceived as only testing surface learning, but this is not necessarily the case. Careful design of questions can enable the testing of higher order skills

Considering e-Assessment?

A decision to whether e-assessment is the most appropriate form of assessment largely depends upon the leaning outcomes, what needs to be assessed and for what purpose. More information about different methods of assessments can be found in the section 8 of the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes .

For the implementation of online assessment, the e-learning team has developed a model of support based on the e-Assessment lifecycle, a process introduced in the Code of practice for the use of technology in the delivery of Assessment (British Standard).

The support material develop cover the implementation of

Online assessment
Self and peer assessment (some of the principles of the design can also be adapted for group work or assessment of collaborative work)