Assessment in online education during the COVID-19 pandemic: from the perspective of university instructors

Abstract

Educational activities, including assessment have continued globally in the form of emergency remote education since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to explore university instructors’ opinions about assessment methods in online education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Case study design was employed in line with the research questions. Data were collected from 199 instructors working at different universities in Turkey via a questionnaire developed by the researchers. Content analysis was applied to analyze the data. The results revealed that instructors’ most frequently applied methods were homework, multiple-choice tests, presentations, open-ended questions, and projects. Instructors encountered problems such as inadequate level of ICT access, reliability issues, infrastructural inadequacy of institutions, institutional enforcement, requiring more effort for instructor, difficulties in applied courses, and rapid transition to online education. Instructors’ preferences toward assessment were to change the assessment methods and revert to traditional methods as well as increase student engagement and integrate ICT. The results of this study reveal the opinions of instructors about remote assessment and inform practitioners about the applied methods, possible problems, and preferences that may help others adapt quickly to remote assessment.