This mixed-method account explores the medical students’ perceptions and attitudes regarding online assessment in two Palestinian universities. The researchers aimed at identifying the way medical students look at online assessment, as well as the pitfalls and the drawbacks of such an atypical evaluation method at the university level. Of the large number of medical students enrolled in the two universities, 302 completed and returned the survey, and 61 students were selected to interpret their open responses qualitatively. The study findings suggest that the evaluation of Al-Quds University in Jerusalem was better and higher than that of the An-Najah National University in Nablus. Statistically significant differences were found, when some demographic variables, i.e., gender and year of study interaction were selected. Finally, the study respondents highlighted a number of drawbacks for online assessment, which the researchers sorted into eight main categories that varied in percentages. The medical students showed their dissatisfaction with this type of assessment, for many considerations, including, but not limited to, technical and administrative matters in nature.

Background The rapid adoption of modern technology has changed many aspects of our life and communication; it has the power to influence and change the way we teach, learn and practice different types of professions mainly teaching and health care providing. Smartphone applications are increasingly becoming popular and widespread. Generally, these applications are likely to play a significant role in supporting education, in general, and medical education, in particular. This study aims at investigating how medical faculty members are using smartphones in medical education and practice, and how they perceive them as an educational tool at university level. Methods The researchers have distributed an online questionnaire - including three parts: a demographic part with five variables; a 15-item part of various applications of the smartphones; and a 14-item part measuring attitudes towards using these smartphones - among medical faculty members at two Palestinian universities. Setting and participants Medical faculty members working at two Palestinian universities. Data have been collected from 30 participants out of 72 representing a response rate of 41.6%. Results The average skills score with smartphones usage is (3.18) which tells that faculty members use smartphones to support their teaching practices. In general, faculty members are positive towards smartphones as a prospective teaching tool since the average attitude towards using smartphones is (3.60). The study results show no significant differences among faculty members based on the five demographic variables, i.e. university, title, department affiliation, gender, and years of experience. Conclusion It seems that the majority of faculty members believe that smartphones would be a significant instrument as well as addition to their teaching practices. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12909-019-1697-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Abstract:This study provides an account of the place of peer and self-assessment in higher education. It particularly focusses on introducing these assessments in three graduate courses and measures the impact on learning outcomes, and compares the results of self/peer assessments vis-à-vis those conducted by teachers. Using the action research approach, this study develops models for implementing self/peer assessments that can have direct implications for promoting self-efficacy in learners. Within the overarching framework of the Social Cognitive Theory, this paper provides pedagogical implications for curriculum development, instructional practice, and workable assessment mechanisms.

Educational institutions strive to achieve their purposes mainly assessing students’ performance and abilities; they might use traditional types of assessment or they may be forced to apply electronic assessment in certain situations such as those dictated by the current spread of COVID-19 Pandemic. The current study aims at providing insights into the ways and levels of university students' evaluation of the electronic assessment during the global health crisis whether this evaluation is affected by certain demographic variables or not. A 29-item online questionnaire was developed and conducted by the researchers to survey a large sample of university population. A large number of the students (n=582) responded to the survey.  The study results show that the level of students’ evaluation of e-assessment is moderate. The researchers also find that an interaction between gender and faculty may influence students’ evaluation positively and negatively. The implications of the study suggest that educational institutions should consider all types of assessment mainly e-assessment to keep pace with all advancements and evade unexpected circumstances like pandemics.   Keywords: assessment; Corona Pandemic; e-assessment; e-learning; evaluation; learning; teaching