Online Writing Assessment in the Wake of COVID-19: Insights from the Digital Classroom

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created considerable challenges for higher education across the globe. Drastic measures such as university closures have accelerated a shift to online learning and digital assessment. Malaysian universities have also transitioned to remote learning and digital testing in the wake of the pandemic. In the midst of this major paradigm shift, many questions regarding the effectiveness of online tests from the perspective of university students have not been addressed. The present study explores Malaysian university students’ insights of doing online writing tests versus pen-paper tests. One of the aims of the study was to determine whether students used online resources as mediation tools when attempting an online writing test. Data were gathered anonymously using an online survey of 193 respondents. Using content analysis, it was found that majority of the respondents expressed a preference for online writing tests as opposed to conventional pen-paper tests. Students also reported using online resources as mediation tools to aid writing during digital writing assessments. In general, respondents revealed that the online environment which allows them access to digital tools makes writing easier and less demanding. The respondents also opined that convenience, ability to manage time, conducive environment and affordance of digital resources make online testing an attractive option for writing assessment. The findings suggest that test setters and educators should consider the impact of online writing environments and digital tools when designing online writing tests. Further interpretations and useful pedagogical implications are discussed.

Undergraduate-Level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in Distance Education: Perceived Effectiveness of Two Assessment Techniques

“…Earlier research aligns with the present findings by asserting that student concerns over online academic writing focalize on the issues related to time, self-presentation and the genre-specific writing (Goodfellow & Lea, 2005;Şenel & Şenel, 2021). As Wong et al (2022) argue, instructors as test-setters should develop an understanding acknowledging the potential effects of contextual differences between the traditional assessment and e-assessment on students' reference to resources as well as the length and quality of student texts in online exams. As for the challenges appertaining to task complexity of home assignments, relevant research supports the current findings by pointing out students' potential misunderstanding of writing tasks and possible conflicts over the essence of the task as concerns over EAP assessment (Dunworth, 2008).…”

“…That most students preferred take-home assignments over synchronous exams due to the opportunity of utilizing online resources and tools to increase the linguistic quality of their writing aligns with prior research with similar findings (Shin et al, 2021;Wong et al, 2022). Preparing their essays in a longer period of time supplied them with the flexibility that the online exams failed to provide.…”

“…Formative e-assessment, in particular, is advocated to provide long-term meaningful studentteacher interactions and effective learning outcomes as long as it is integrated into online learning environments appropriately and effectively (Gikandi et al, 2011). On the other hand, factors pertaining to reliability and validity issues undermines its applicability (Wong et al, 2022). When the assessment of writing skills is considered, many students find different rhetorical requirements in electronic classrooms complex and challenging (Goodfellow & Lea, 2005).…”