A Disruptive Innovation perspective on students’ opinions of online assessment

Abstract

This article analyses students’ thoughts and feelings about online assessment. This article uses Disruptive Innovation theory as a lens through which to analyse students’ responses to online assessment, in a case study of a Leadership course. The sources of data for this article comprise annual course evaluation surveys, a one-off assessment survey and a focus group. Qualitative content analysis with a directed approach is used to analyse the data. The results show students are capable of undertaking a range of online assessments but are, in general, reluctant to utilise the innovative possibilities of different forms of online assessment. This article adds to our understanding of online assessment by placing it within a distinct theoretical framework, offering explanations for why students may not be seeking-out innovative forms of assessment.

Online assessment in higher education: a mapping review and narrative synthesis

“…It seemed that the modality effect (efficacy of online versus traditional delivery) was associated with issues such as assessment design or perceived social presence rather than the online technology. Another study that investigated student choice of online assignments further reported that while students had opportunities to be more innovative, the majority chose traditional written assignments (Flavin, 2021).…”

ChatGPT and Assessment in Higher Education: A Magic Wand or a Disruptor?

“…The term "disruptive technology" was later changed to "disruptive innovation" as a way of extending it and including other sectors such as service sectors (Christensen and Raynor, 2003). The theory of disruptive innovation can be applied to many sectors including higher education (Flavin, 2021). Christensen and Raynor (2003) propose two types of disruption which are "new market disruption" and "low-end disruption".…”

“…Although disruptive innovation theory has been critiqued for its inability to predict an innovation's disruptive potential (Flavin, 2016), it still remains a useful framework for analysing new technologies in higher education settings, particularly to learn "why some succeed and some fail" (Flavin, 2021, p. 3). Flavin (2021) argued that disruptive innovations offer cheap and easy-to-use technologies that first attract a particular market and later target mainstream ones as well. This can be seen, for example, in the case of budget airlines disrupting incumbent airlines (Kumar, 2006) or car rentals disrupting dominant car brands (Markides and Sosa, 2013).…”

Impacto de las tecnologías disruptivas en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje: caso UTM online.

“…Las prácticas a distancia van progresivamente arrebatando espacio y tiempo a las formas más convencionales de enseñar y aprender (García, 2017). La innovación disruptiva es una teoría útil para comprender por qué algunas tecnologías tienen éxito en la educación superior y otras fracasan (Flavin, 2021). Por otra parte, el docente debe desaprender en el uso de tecnologías y volver a aprender en la innovación disruptiva, con nuevas herramientas digitales que activen al estudiante en su proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje.…”