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The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the implementation of online assessments at an unprecedented pace. The pandemic required most higher education institutions worldwide to implement online assessments almost overnight. The study aimed to gain an understanding of auditing students' perceptions of online assessments and e-proctoring systems during the pandemic. A web-based questionnaire was administered to postgraduate auditing students who had taken part in remote online assessments at an open distance and e-learning university in South Africa, invigilated via e-proctoring software, which was introduced in the 2020 academic year. A total of 238 students participated in the study. Factor analysis, using principal component factor analysis, was performed to identify the factors or components that possibly caused the variation in these auditing students' perceptions of online assessments and e-proctoring. Varimax with Kaiser normalisation was used as a rotation method. This process revealed five main components that explained variations in participants' perceptions, namely: Component 1—emotions (assessments), appropriateness (assessments), fairness (assessments), monetary aspects, and time; Component 2—practical IT matters, academic integrity (e-proctoring) and cheating (e-proctoring); Component 3—practical IT matters (e-proctoring) and emotions (e-proctoring); Component 4—practical IT matters (assessments) and time (assessments); and Component 5—cheating (assessments). Implications of the findings for educators are offered, along with recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the implementation of online assessments at an unprecedented pace. The pandemic required most higher education institutions worldwide to implement online assessments almost overnight. The study aimed to gain an understanding of auditing students’ perceptions of online assessments and e-proctoring systems during the pandemic. A web-based questionnaire was administered to postgraduate auditing students who had taken part in remote online assessments at an open distance and e-learning university in South Africa, invigilated via e-proctoring software, which was introduced in the 2020 academic year. A total of 238 students participated in the study. Factor analysis, using principal component factor analysis, was performed to identify the factors or components that possibly caused the variation in these auditing students’ perceptions of online assessments and e-proctoring. Varimax with Kaiser normalisation was used as a rotation method. This process revealed five main components that explained variations in participants’ perceptions, namely: Component 1—emotions (assessments), appropriateness (assessments), fairness (assessments), monetary aspects, and time; Component 2—practical IT matters, academic integrity (e-proctoring) and cheating (e-proctoring); Component 3—practical IT matters (e-proctoring) and emotions (e-proctoring); Component 4—practical IT matters (assessments) and time (assessments); and Component 5—cheating (assessments). Implications of the findings for educators are offered, along with recommendations for future research.

The rapid transition to online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic has necessitated re-evaluating assessment practices in higher education. This research article presents an assessment model to inform policymakers and practitioners of innovative approaches to address the challenges effectively. Using an action design research methodology, this study delves into the problem of online assessments in Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs). By considering the contextual factors of load shedding, unavailability of Wi-Fi, the requirement for cheat-proof evaluations, and the paramount importance of addressing learning outcomes, the study sought to design a model that enables effective assessments in a post-Covid world. The designed artifact contributes to the growing body of knowledge on assessment practices in higher education by providing practical insights and recommendations for adapting to the unique challenges faced post-Covid. The model can guide policymakers and practitioners in developing a framework to address innovative assessment designs in the future.

Abstract Online education, while not a new phenomenon, underwent a monumental shift during the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing educators and students alike into the uncharted waters of full-time digital learning. With this shift came renewed concerns about the integrity of online assessments. Amidst a landscape rapidly being reshaped by online exam/homework assistance platforms, which witnessed soaring stocks as students availed its questionable exam assistance, and the emergence of sophisticated artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, the traditional methods of assessment faced unprecedented challenges. This paper presents the results of an observational study, using data from an introductory statistics course taught every semester by the author, and delves into the proliferation of cheating methods. Analyzing exam score results from the pre and post introduction of ChatGPT periods, the research unpacks the extent of cheating and provides strategies to counteract this trend. The findings starkly illustrate significant increases in exam scores from when exams of similar difficulty were administered in person (pre-Covid) versus online. The format, difficulty, and grading of the exams was the same throughout. Although randomized controlled experiments are generally more effective than observational studies, we will indicate when we present the data why experiments would not be feasible for this research. In addition to presenting experimental findings, the paper offers some insights, based on the author's extensive experience, to guide educators in crafting more secure online assessments in this new era, both for courses at the introductory level and more advances courses The results and findings are relevant to introductory courses that can use multiple choice exams in any subject but the recommendations for upper-level courses will be relevant primarily to STEM subjects. The research underscores the pressing need for reinventing assessment techniques to uphold the sanctity of online education.

Online education, while not a new phenomenon, underwent a monumental shift during the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing educators and students alike into the uncharted waters of full-time digital learning. With this shift came renewed concerns about the integrity of online assessments. Amidst a landscape rapidly being reshaped by online exam/homework assistance platforms, which witnessed soaring stocks as students availed its questionable exam assistance, and the emergence of sophisticated artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, the traditional methods of assessment faced unprecedented challenges. This paper presents the results of an observational study, using data from an introductory statistics course taught every semester by the author, and delves into the proliferation of cheating methods. Analyzing exam score results from the pre and post introduction of ChatGPT periods, the research unpacks the extent of cheating and provides strategies to counteract this trend. The findings starkly illustrate significant increases in exam scores from when exams of similar difficulty were administered in person (pre-Covid) versus online. The format, difficulty, and grading of the exams was the same throughout. Although randomized controlled experiments are generally more effective than observational studies, we will indicate when we present the data why experiments would not be feasible for this research. In addition to presenting experimental findings, the paper offers some insights, based on the author's extensive experience, to guide educators in crafting more secure online assessments in this new era, both for courses at the introductory level and more advances courses The results and findings are relevant to introductory courses that can use multiple choice exams in any subject but the recommendations for upper-level courses will be relevant primarily to STEM subjects. The research underscores the pressing need for reinventing assessment techniques to uphold the sanctity of online education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The post-Covid continuation of online classes and assessments in higher education at many institutions has necessitated re-evaluating assessment practices. This research article presents a scoping literature review on the challenges and innovative opportunities regarding assessments in higher education. The contextual factors of load-shedding, unavailability of Wi-Fi, the requirement for cheat-proof online assessment, and questions with ungoogleable answers or answers that ChatGPT could not provide underlined the importance of this topic. Thirty articles were analysed using the qualitative software tool, Atlas.ti. According to the literature, the main challenge is cheating with online assessments, and the best solution provided is oral presentations students’ work. This complex issue needs further research on combining contextual challenges, the credibility of assessments and the enhancement of 4IR workplace skills in one assessment model to support assessments in higher education.

The mass shift to Open-Book, Open-Web (OBOW) assessments during the pandemic highlighted new opportunities in Higher Education for developing accessible, authentic assessments that can reduce administrative load. Despite a plethora of research emerging on the effectiveness of OBOW assessments within disciplines, few currently evaluate their effectiveness across disciplines where the assessment instrument can vary significantly. This paper aims to evaluate the experience students across STEM subjects had of OBOW exams to contribute to an evidence-base for emerging post-pandemic assessment policies and strategies. In April 2021, following two cycles of OBOW exams, we surveyed STEM students across a range of subjects to determine their preparation strategy, experiences during the exam, perception of development of higher order cognitive skills, test anxiety, and how they thought these assessments might enhance employability. Overall, students from subjects that use assessment instruments requiring analytical, quantitative-based answers (Maths, Physics, Computer Science and Chemistry) adapted their existing study skills less effectively, felt less prepared and experienced higher levels of stress compared to students of subjects using more qualitative discursive based answers (Biosciences and Geography). We conclude with recommendations on how to enhance the use of OBOW exams: these include supporting and developing more effective study skills, ensuring assessments align with intended learning outcomes, addressing the issue of academic integrity, promoting inclusivity, and encouraging authentic assessment. Based on the outcomes of this study, we strongly advise that assessment policies that foster the whole-scale roll-out of OBOW assessment consider the inter-disciplinary impacts on learner development, staff training and workload resources.

Growing concerns about online examinations have led to various investigations of techniques for improvement. With most higher education institutions shifting to online learning and examination amid COVID-19, these concerns, including the academic dishonesty, validity, reliability, and anxiety of online examination, are more critical than ever. This paper presents the outcomes of the survey to elicit the perceptions of undergraduate students from two universities in South Korea and Malaysia towards undertaking online exams and the associated concerns. Additionally, the study explores the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in addressing these concerns. There are three main research questions: 1) How has AI been adopted to tackle the four main concerns in online exams? 2) What are the students' perceptions regarding these concerns? Are there any differences between South Korean and Malaysian students? 3) What is the extent of the stress level when webcam proctoring and timers are implemented during online exams? The survey results show that both South Korean and Malaysian students agree that online exams make cheating more accessible than inperson exams. They also suggest that selecting questions randomly from a question bank could discourage cheating. Moreover, the study highlights that both groups of students experience moderate stress levels when webcam proctoring is used over Zoom during online exams, and they experience a high-stress level when timers are set for each question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, research has shown poor uptake and acceptance of non-traditional assessments. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, necessitated a drastic shift towards online assessments and negated the practicality of traditional assessments. The acceptance of online assessments by university students enrolled in historically disadvantaged higher education institutions is currently underresearched. To address this gap, the Technological Acceptance Model (TAM) is employed as a theoretical framework to examine the acceptance of online assessments and identify barriers to their adoption. The study used a quantitative research design and data were collected through an online questionnaire distributed via ®Microsoft Teams, the university’s Learning Management System (LMS). Descriptive and inferential data analysis was conducted using a combination of Microsoft Excel and JASP version 0.16.1.0. A total of 83 second and third-year students registered with the Department of Community Extension participated in the study. The results showed that 42% (n=35) of students found online assessments difficult to complete. Anxiety during the assessment was prevalent in 57% (n=47) of the students. Forty percent (n=50) of the students indicated that online assessments improved academic performance. The percentage of students that still preferred face-to-face invigilated tests over online assessments was also 40% (n=33). The results indicate that online assessments were accepted by students in historically disadvantaged institutions. However, results emphasised the need for the implementation of effective measures to maintain academic integrity, mitigate technical challenges and the provision of training and support to reduce anxiety among students caused by assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic changed the pattern of learning from regular face-to-face classes to entirely digital and virtual learning. Assessments also had to be, and were, conducted online. Hence, we thought of assessing the level of satisfaction toward this mode of assessment among the allied health students in our institute. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the level of satisfaction and usefulness with the online practical and theory assessments among different phases of allied health sciences students belonging to different programs. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was prepared after discussions among faculty members of the medical education department, appropriately validated and administered as Google Forms to the participants. Consecutive sampling technique was followed. Of the total 59 participants, 31 belonged to BSc Optometry and 28 belonged to BSc. Medical laboratory technology (MLT) courses. Results: The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of satisfaction of online theory/ practical assessments among the students of BSc. MLT was 5.893 ± 2.097 and BSc. Optometry was 6.194 ± 2.227. Usefulness of online theory/ practical assessments in testing knowledge and practical skills of BSc. MLT was 5.607 ± 2.061 and BSc. Optometry was 6.419 ± 2.363. Both of these were not found to be statistically significant. The median (Q1–Q3) of usefulness of online assessment in testing practical skills of students among the four phases was 5(2–6), 3(2–3), 2(2–6) and 3(3–5) and was found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: Most of the students felt that online assessments were useful only for theory examinations and that this modality was unsuitable to test practical skills.

Optometry education, like other health professions, has historically been conducted via contact teaching and learning in classrooms, clinics and laboratories. In 2020, COVID-19 imposed an abrupt move to online learning for higher education institutions. This was performed with little insight into the feasibility and readiness for its adoption within certain contexts, as well as the potential impact on learning. This qualitative descriptive project purposively recruited a representative sample of 30 optometry students from a South African university to explore their experiences of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected using focus group interviews. The data were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically. Four themes emerged from the research, namely; learning how to learn online, need for social support, technology dependent, and authentic learning. The key challenges observed were difficulty in transitioning to online learning, independent learning, and not having reliable access to internet connectivity. Gaps in clinical skills resulting from restricted access to contact training and real-world clinical exposure negatively impacted competency development. Contribution: Pandemic disruptions to routine academic programme activities within higher education institutions have the potential to negatively impact the learning experience for students where institutions and/or students may be unprepared or under-resourced to support such a shift. The results of this study further suggest that exposure to real-world clinical contexts for optometry students should be enabled even under pandemic conditions to promote the development of clinical competencies needed for effective healthcare delivery. Finally, remote online assessments must be designed to support authentic learning so as not to compromise exit-level outcomes, skills and competencies.

Traditionally, research has shown poor uptake and acceptance of non-traditional assessments. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, necessitated a drastic shift towards online assessments and negated the practicality of traditional assessments. The acceptance of online assessments by university students enrolled in historically disadvantaged higher education institutions is currently underresearched. To address this gap, the Technological Acceptance Model (TAM) is employed as a theoretical framework to examine the acceptance of online assessments and identify barriers to their adoption. The study used a quantitative research design and data were collected through an online questionnaire distributed via ®Microsoft Teams, the university’s Learning Management System (LMS). Descriptive and inferential data analysis was conducted using a combination of Microsoft Excel and JASP version 0.16.1.0. A total of 83 second and third-year students registered with the Department of Community Extension participated in the study. The results showed that 42% (n=35) of students found online assessments difficult to complete. Anxiety during the assessment was prevalent in 57% (n=47) of the students. Forty percent (n=50) of the students indicated that online assessments improved academic performance. The percentage of students that still preferred face-to-face invigilated tests over online assessments was also 40% (n=33). The results indicate that online assessments were accepted by students in historically disadvantaged institutions. However, results emphasised the need for the implementation of effective measures to maintain academic integrity, mitigate technical challenges and the provision of training and support to reduce anxiety among students caused by assessments.

COVID19 outbreak brought about many challenges including the shifting of university assessments to conduct in online mode. This research study tries to explore the impact of newly designed online formative assessments on students’ learning, in a Plant Physiology course. The designing of assessments were carried out focusing on constructive alignment, for which an Open Book Test (OBT) was conducted in three parts: OBT1 –problem based learning assignment, providing feedback using a rubric; OBT2 –multiple choice, multi response, matching and missing word questions with immediate feedback; OBT3 –analysing research results with MCQs and short answer questions with feedback. A mixed approach of convergent parallel design method was followed to collect data through two questionnaires and interviews. Findings indicated students’ engagement in self- determined learning in solving a real-world problem and their enthusiasm in learning with research-based questions in assessments, while self-assessing their performance through feedback. However, geographically varied technological challenges need to be addressed in conducting successful online assessments.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an urgent need to move to online teaching and develop innovative teaching techniques to ensure that student learning outcomes (SOs) were fulfilled. This paper tries to answer the important question of whether an established teaching strategy through a multi-course project-based learning (MPL) approach, along with online assessment techniques, helps in the effective achievement of SOs in a senior-level electrical engineering (EE) course. The authors have developed a course project for attaining the objectives of a senior and a capstone course, where students are registered at the same time. In addition, the course conducts assessments online. The paper reports the effect of the two approaches on the attainment of the SOs of the two courses, along with testing the programming and problem-solving abilities of the students. It is known that the MPL approach enhances the critical thinking capacity of students, which is also a major outcome of Sustainable Development Education (ESD). It was ensured that the project that was used to test the fulfillment of a series of SOs were concentrated on soft engineering and project management skills. The difficulty of adopting the MPL method for the senior-level courses is in the scheduling of the course materials to help the student advance to the final project while also aligning the project towards fulfilling the learning outcomes of the individual course. The study also provides the students with feedback on online assessment techniques incorporated within the MPL. Besides this, the effect of the innovative teaching approaches was compared with the same senior course taught using conventional methods in an earlier semester. Based on the feedback from teachers and students from a previously conducted case study, it was concluded that the MPL approach had supported the student learning. The results of the statistical analysis (Chi-square, two-tailed T statistics and hypothesis testing using a z-test) show that an MPL approach and online assessment improved the attainment of the SOs despite the constraints posed by the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Covid-19 pandemic has instigated changes in the teaching and assessment practices of institutions in many parts of the world, resulting in not only online teaching but also online assessments. The present study analyzes the perceptions of students regarding the first online assessments conducted at a medical college in Pakistan. Materials & Methods: This Mixed method cross-sectional study was conducted at Wah Medical College (WMC) from July to November 2020. The questionnaire was developed after the collaboration of the authors and a review of the pertinent literature on online examinations. Universal sampling was done and all students of WMC were invited to participate in the study. Data collection was done by google forms and analysis was performed on SPSS. Results: Students from all five years of the MBBS program participated almost equally in the study. Students of 1st (43.8 %), 3rd (44.8 %), and 4th year (47.1 %) were not contented with their performance in online exams whereas students of 2nd (49.3 %) and 5th year (61.4 %) were satisfied. Most students considered technological issues as a basis for their poor performance and proposed technical training before online exams. They also provided suggestions related to the improvement of examination formats and tools. Conclusion: The majority of the students found the online assessment more effective and helpful in improving their performance in exams. Student perceptions provided valuable insights for improving the online examination system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online and direct learning (blended learning) requires support for optimizing student competency achievements as well as alternative choices of assessment model that are objective, practical, and effective in measuring student learning outcomes in a valid way. This best practice writing uses a qualitative descriptive approach with the aim of, firstly, to describe the use of math learning video content on youtube social media accounts to support the optimization of student competency achievements. Second, describe the online assessment model in mathematics subjects based on the moodle application. Third, describe the ease of application of learning and assessment in terms of practicality for teacher and accessibility for students. The research data collection technique uses documentation and observations of the learning and assessment system that has been used so far as well as and interviews with vice principal for curriculum, teachers, and students. The results of the study indicate that the use of youtube content in the form of math learning videos can support the optimization of student competency achievements. While the online mathematical assessment model based on the moodle application with the multiple-choice model could display random questions well, namely random questions from the question bank, random number of questions, and random answer options. Making video content in an easy and practical way using the powerpoint and active presenter application then uploading it to youtube social media account. While the online assessment model is also easy and practical to use in all subjects with the help of the examview application and can be apllied to daily assessments, midterm assessments, end-of-semester assessment, and school exams.

With the operationalisation of lockdowns and restrictions on public gatherings, education systems across the entire globe were confronted with an urgent need to reconsider alternative forms of teaching, learning and assessment. Some institutions in developing countries were especially hard-hit by the shift owing to inadequacies in training and infrastructure because unlike their more developed counterparts who had already made inroads into adopting online technologies, some institutions in the developing world had no such technologies in place. As such, the shift to online learning was rushed and somewhat a “learning on the job” experience for students and educators. While remote online teaching, learning and assessment are novel experiences for many higher education institutions, developing countries are incessantly presented with many challenges, particularly when safeguarding academic integrity. Invigilated assessments, which are often considered more secure, are not an option given the current situation, thus detecting any cheating would be significantly challenging. As a result, this study examined assessment security in the digital domain and critically evaluated the practices to safeguard academic integrity in developing countries across three Southern African universities, including associated challenges. Underpinned by the pragmatist paradigm, the study employed a mixed-methods research approach that utilised in-depth qualitative and quantitative data from university managers, lecturers and students to investigate how academic integrity is safeguarded in the advent of online learning. Our findings revealed that although the transition to online learning and assessment was abrupt, higher education institutions have generated creative strategies to secure and ensure the continuity of learning and assessment. Such strategies include administering several versions of the same examination, as well as the use of “text-matching” software to detect the originality of work done by students. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that to guarantee the authenticity of online assessment, institutions must ensure that assessment practices relate to real-world needs and the context in which students can apply acquired knowledge.

Background and objectives Considering the increasing utilization of online educational tools in medical education, it is essential to evaluate the reliability and validity of online assessments to accurately assess student proficiency and predict academic success. This study investigated the predictive efficacy of different online assessment methods in comparison to standard offline methods within the medical educational setting. Methods This study utilized a mixed-methods crossover design, involving 125 first-year medical students who were randomly assigned to either online or traditional examinations. The students then crossed over to the other type of assessment. The assessments consisted of multiple-choice questions (MCQs), viva voce, objective structured clinical examinations, and written theory examinations. Quantitative data on results, finishing times, and academic metrics were analyzed, along with qualitative data from student interviews exploring perceptions of each format. Results The online MCQs had the highest average scores and a moderately positive correlation with performance on the theory examination (r=0.326). Regression models indicated that online and offline MCQs were moderate positive predictors of theoretical marks (R 2 =0.106 and 0.107, respectively). Qualitative responses emphasized advantages such as flexibility and accessibility for online examinations but also concerns regarding technological challenges, interaction, and integrity compared to traditional formats. Conclusions Online MCQ assessments showed promise as indicators of medical student academic performance. However, additional online forms require improvement to match conventional assessments reliably. As medical education involves digital technologies, cautious implementation of online evaluations substantiated by further research is needed to preserve educational quality standards., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Institutional Human Ethics Committee issued approval IHEC/AIIMS-GKP/BMR l98/2022. Ethical approval was acquired from the Institute Ethics Committee (Human Studies), All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Gorakhpur, India, prior to the initiation of the study. Informed consent was obtained from all participants, ensuring they were fully aware of the study’s nature, the confidentiality of their data, and their right to withdraw at any moment without any repercussions. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Mohanraj et al.)

COVID19 outbreak brought about many challenges including the shifting of university assessments to conduct in online mode. This research study tries to explore the impact of newly designed online formative assessments on students' learning, in a Plant Physiology course. The designing of assessments were carried out focusing on constructive alignment, for which an Open Book Test (OBT) was conducted in three parts: OBT1 -problem based learning assignment, providing feedback using a rubric; OBT2 -multiple choice, multi response, matching and missing word questions with immediate feedback; OBT3 -analysing research results with MCQs and short answer questions with feedback. A mixed approach of convergent parallel design method was followed to collect data through two questionnaires and interviews. Findings indicated students' engagement in self-determined learning in solving a real-world problem and their enthusiasm in learning with research-based questions in assessments, while self-assessing their performance through feedback. However, geographically varied technological challenges need to be addressed in conducting successful online assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This article examines the phenomenon of academic integrity during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, with particular reference to emergency online assessments in 2020. Aim: It explores academic dishonesty, cheating and plagiarism of university students during emergency remote online assessment, from the perspective of South African students. Setting and Methodology: The authors explore the approaches of different universities worldwide, as well as the extant literature on the topic. An examination of the current literature related explicitly to the COVID-19 online assessments reveals a dearth of engagement by researchers in the South African context. In order to address this lacuna, the authors rely on data generated from an institutional forum on academic dishonesty at a University in South Africa. It focuses specifically on the voices of students presented during the forum, which explained both why students are dishonest and ways to curb dishonesty. Results and Conclusion: The data generated show whilst some students were dishonest due to pandemic-related issues (like lack of monitoring), there are also other reasons, such as lack of time management, feeling overwhelmed and stressed and struggling with technology that contributes to student dishonesty. Students suggest that assessments be approached differently online to curb academic dishonesty. The paper concludes by providing some fundamental changes needed to address academic dishonesty.

Abstract Background Computer-aided learning management systems (LMSs) are widely used in higher education and are viewed as beneficial when transitioning from conventional face-to-face teaching to fully online courses. While LMSs have unique tools for transferring and assessing knowledge, their ability to engage and assess learners needs further investigation. This paper focuses on a study examining the LMS “Moodle” to ascertain the effectiveness of “Moodle quizzes” to improve, assess and distinguish knowledge in a civil engineering course at an Australian university. The course has a database comprising 62 formative and 61 summative quiz questions with embedded text, images, audio and video. This study investigates the use of these quiz questions with four course cohorts and 169 students. The quizzes assessed competencies of students during various stages of a study period through automated marking. The suitability of questions to assess and distinguish student knowledge levels was determined using a psychometric analysis based on facility index (FI) and the discrimination index (DI) statistics embedded within the Moodle quizzes. Results This study highlights strategies used to set and review quiz questions for formative and summative assessments. Results indicated that students were engaged and satisfied in the formative assessment because they viewed the interactive videos between 2 and 6 times and 65% of students attempted all the formative questions. The FI indicated student pass rate for the summative questions and DI indicated the difficulty of these questions, while the combination of FI and DI results separated students with different knowledge levels. Using these Moodle statistics provided information to make effective decisions on how to improve the summative quizzes. Conclusion The multimodal quizzes were effective in teaching and assessing a theoretical engineering course and provided efficient methods to replace conventional assessments. The FI and DI indexes are useful statistical tools in redesigning appropriate sets of questions. Time-poor academics will benefit from using these easily attainable Moodle statistics to inform decisions while revising the quizzes and making assessments more autonomous.

COVID-19 has necessitated a rapid shift to teaching in virtual environments across the educational spectrum. In this respect, instructors previously unfamiliar, or under-familiar, with virtual teaching environments need to learn quickly and effectively how these environments work and how they can be used to successfully deliver courses, especially within health professions education contexts. These twelve tips provide insight on the practice of teaching in virtual environments, from course design, to student engagement, to assessment practices, to maximising the potential that technology can provide for both the instructor and the students. Moreover, these tips inform virtual pedagogical practices in the health professions for all levels of experience.

This article provides a brief background on the evolution of the two testing consortia and the perspective of one principal with the transition to online testing in an elementary school.

The pedagogical paradigm shift in higher education to 24-hour learning environments composed of teaching delivery methods of online courses, blended/hybrid formats, and face-to-face (f2f) classes is increasing access to global, lifelong learning. Online degrees have been offered at 62.4% of 2,800 colleges and universities. Students can now design flexible, life-balanced course schedules. Higher knowledge transfer rates may exist with blended course formats with online quizzes and valuable class time set for Socratic, quality discussions and creative team presentations. Research indicates that younger, traditional students exhibit heightened performance goal orientations and prefer entertaining professors who are funny, whereas non-traditional students exhibit mastery profiles and prefer courses taught by flexible, yet organized, professors. A 5-year study found that amongst 51,000 students taking both f2f and online courses, higher online failure rates occurred. Competing life roles for non-traditional students and reading and writing needs for at-risk students suggest that performance may be better if programs are started in f2f courses. Models on effective knowledge transfer consider the planning process, delivery methods, and workplace application, but a gap exists for identifying the diversity of learner needs. Higher education enrollments are being compromised with lower online retention rates. Therefore, the main purpose of this review is to delineate disparate learning styles and present a typology for the learning needs of traditional and non-traditional students. Secondly, psychology as a science may need more rigorous curriculum markers like mapping APA guidelines to knowledge objectives, critical assignments, and student learning outcomes (SLOs) (e.g. online rubric assessments for scoring APA style critical thinking essays on selected New York Times books). Efficacious knowledge transfer to diverse, 21st century students should be the Academy’s focus.

Solving well-structured problems often requires using considerable related concepts which are usually scattered and introduced throughout different learning units of a subject. In addition, poor learning of related concepts of preceding units may block the learning of subsequent units, and eventually leads to the inability to solve well-structured problems of a subject. Thus, this work proposes using across-unit diagnostic feedback, which can identify weak concepts not only within a unit but also in different units. Furthermore, the provided feedback can be used to recommend remedial learning paths for students, and inform the students the priority of the paths to understand which weak unit should be remedied first and which weak concepts within a unit should be remedied first. Students can refer to the instructions and use the provided corresponding remedial materials to conduct remedial learning in a systematic way. To discriminate the learning effect among various feedback types, this project will compare the proposed system, the Across-Unit Diagnostic Feedback System (AUDFS), with two other systems, the Single-Unit Diagnostic Feedback System (SUDFS) and the Traditional Feedback System (TFS). Experiment results show that the proposed system significantly enhanced learning achievement and the ability to solve well-structured problems for students. The mean student retention time of the proposed system is significantly higher than that of other systems, indicating that the proposed system enables sustained connection between students and the system. Additionally, positive correlations exist between student retention time of the proposed system and student post-test scores. Through a questionnaire and interviews, most students expressed positive attitudes to the proposed system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Success of Wikipedia has opened a number of possibilities for crowd sourcing learning resources. However, not all crowd sourcing initiatives are successful. For developing countries, adoption factors like lack of infrastructure and poor teacher training can have an impact on success of such systems. This paper presents an exploratory study to determine if teachers in a developing country are able to create quality multiple-choice questions for primary school students. An adoption model is developed and evaluated to ascertain if the teachers would actually contribute to such a Wiki. Results are that, given student learning outcomes, content constraints, and a Bloom's assessment level, a reasonable number of teachers were able to formulate quality questions, and that there is a strong intention to use such a system. Teachers with high intention to adopt also had a better attitude, enjoyed making questions and found the process easy to use. However, there is no obvious relationship between the intention to use and an ability to pose good assessments. In addition, there is no obvious predictor of where the good question contributors came from. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation is a key element in formal education processes: it must be constructed in a way that the item questions within help students understand by adapting them to the learning style as well. The focus of the present research work specifically in the convenience to adapt an associated multimedia material in each single question besides the traditional adaptation process based on the level of difficulty established for an item; all this in order to increase the final test score of the student. The proposed approach tries to solve this by designing and constructing an authoring tool to construct adaptive objective tests and an a prototype test to evaluate if a test that looks to adapt a multimedia content to the learning style could help to increase cited score of the student. The results are significant because it is able to conclude that adapted test based on the student's learning style slightly increased the final score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This presentation focuses on an ongoing instructional innovation research and development project centered around the development of a blended, online and face-to-face introductory engineering graphics course. The work presented here is an in-depth analysis of how students make use of the online resources to supplement the instructional support they receive in class. The researchers were particularly interested in answering questions concerning not only what resources were accessed, but in what order, and whether there is any statistical correlation to learning outcomes. In this study, the focus was on resources related to the textbook materials and quizzes and tests associated with this material. The data being analyzed was collected from 180 students taught by two different instructors over one semester. Background on the project, analysis of Moodle log file data, along with recommendations for further refinement of instructional strategies will be presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]