1. An Introduction to e-Assessment

2. What is eAssessment?
“eAssessment is the end-to-end electronic assessment processes where ICT is used for the presentation of assessment activity, and the recording of responses. This includes the end-to-end assessment process from the perspective of learners, tutors, learning establishments, awarding bodies and regulators, and the general public.”
Effective Practice with eAssessment, JISC 2007
This definition is taken from the JISC Publication – Effective Practice with eAssessment (2007) which gives an overview of current eAssessment activity in Further and Higher Education in the UK. Here the term eAssessment is very broad and covers all uses of computers in assessments. The publication contains a number of case studies and can be accessed online –
In the context of this module let’s understand eAssessment to mean assessments that can be delivered and marked online.
Some of the most common misconceptions about eAssessment are:
Objective tests are easy & dumb down education are only suitable to assess basic knowledge recall
Objective tests encourage guessing
Writing objective tests is easy – really it’s a bit of an art and takes a bit of practice but once you have a model that suits you can re-use the concept it should be considered as a core skill that staff now need to develop.

3. Diagnostic Formative Summative
Used to identify the student’s current knowledge and skills level
Allows learning activities to match student requirements
Usually taken before learning has occurred in the course
Diagnostic
Assessment task provides practice for students on their learning for the course
Provides useful feedback to individual students at a critical point in the learning process
Gives teachers an opportunity to review class results and address gaps in learning
Formative
Used to grade and judge the student’s level of understanding and skill development for progression or certification
Usually takes place when no further learning is possible for the course being assessed
Summative
Conventional wisdom recognises three categories of the purposes of Assessment.
Diagnostic
Used to diagnose the current level of learning / skills level achieved by the student
The appropriate learning activities can then take place at the appropriate level for the student
It normally takes place before learning has occurred in the course, or the unit or the session
Most people would probably associate this with Core Skills Diagnostics. However it could be argued that there is much more scope for diagnostic testing – it could of course be used to beginning of classes/topics to diagnose the level of existing knowledge. This may include the use of Electronic Voting Systems.
Formative
Assessment task gives students the opportunity to practice their learning in the current course
Formative assessment provides “interactive” elements to learning experiences
There needs to be a lot of formative assessment to support the summative
Could provide possible development activities to help improve their level of understanding
Feedback is an important aspect of formative assessment and should help with the learning process
Feedback can be from a range of people including the tutor, their peers, or placement supervisors
Feedback needs to be given in relation to the criteria against which the work is assessed
Summative
Grade awarded indicating how the student performed against the standards set for the assessment task
May or may not include feedback
Normally takes place at the end of the module/unit/course
High risk nature means that there is a reluctance to adopt institutionally and a strategic approach is required.

4. Relationship between assessment & learning
Diagnostic
Before Learning
Formative
During Learning
Summative
After Learning
This diagram shows the relationship between diagnostic, formative and summative assessment

5. Assessments should be Valid
Measures what is professes to measure
Assessments should be Valid
Should produce similar results over a period of time when used by students with similar abilities
Assessments should be Reliable
Ideally, any assessment should be VALID & RELIABLE and should demonstrate whether students have met the intended learning outcomes of the course
VALID –the assessment should measure what it is intended to ?
RELIABLE – scores should be consistent over time?
These can both be improved by:
using more than one assessment method
Setting more (smaller) assessment items
Using more than one assessor

6. Benefits of eAssessment
A learning tool
Immediate feedback can be given to students (and staff)
Assessment can be linked to other online course materials
Can support personalisation
Choice of time and / or place of assessment
Likely to be less time spent on marking
The implementation of eAssessment should be considered strategically especially for high risk, summative assessment so that issues such as authentication, delivery methods and security are properly planned. A strategic approach is also important in order to be able to scale systems and procedures beyond pilot phases and ensure all learners needs are met.
The assessment is for learning initiative describes the importance of formative assessment in the learning process and as well as providing immediate and comprehensive feedback can form the bridge between course materials and new topics. There is more flexibility in terms of sitting assessments and using eAssessment can provide a mechanism for a much more personalised learning experience.
Time saving on marking may not be reflected immediately – the implementation of eAssessment can involve a lot of time and effort in the short term with the time investment required rather front loaded but there should be benefits in the medium to longer term.

7. Limitations of eAssessment
Constructing well written eAssessments is a time-consuming process which requires a different skill set from traditional assessment writing
Security Issues
Plagiarism Issues
There a re time & skills development requirements – time may be saved at the point of delivery but investment on both counts is required prior to this
Individual teachers would need the time, resources and skills required for successful eAssessment (pedagogical, technical, support)
It is difficult, but not impossible (see 2nd presentation), to assess higher skills levels
Security – especially with higher stakes assessments can be problematic and a strategic approach is essential (the use of a purpose built assessment centres might be possible solution)
Plagiarism Issues – with any digital medium this is easier to plagiarise materials but equally it is easier to monitor.
– More than half of teachers believe internet plagiarism is a serious problem among sixth-form students
JISC iPas (Plagiarism Advisory Service)

8. Future Developments Use of Web 2.0 tools ePortfolios
Wikis for collaborative assessment
Blogs for reflective work
ePortfolios
Web 2.0 technologies provide new ways to assess higher order skills and to some extent are turning things on their head a bit.
The automatic marking of the products of these technologies is problematic although in terms of assessing divergent & reflective or collaborative work they are becoming very useful and it’s often going to be appropriate that assessments and assignments are individually and manually marked.

9. References Effective Practice with e-Assessment RSCtv sessions
Designing e-Assessments
Making e-Assessment Inclusive
Electronic Voting Systems