Adaptability of Assessment in Different Learning Environments: Dealing With Uncertainty in Higher Education

• In Event: Students and Assessment

Abstract

Global disasters or social events more frequently disrupt universities' normal teaching routines. The unexpectedness and uncertainty they brought forced teachers to act quickly and make their practices more adaptive to different instructional modes. This qualitative study investigated the adaptability of assessments when shifting from face-to-face to online instructional environments. Data were collected from four faculties at the macro level and 174 courses at the micro level in a Hong Kong university. The study found assessments are more adaptive in such shifts when they have higher flexibility in five dimensions, student access to the resources, individual students’ control, demand on students’ construction of knowledge, emphasis on standardization, and reliance on particular venues/contexts or equipment.

Author

• Lily Min Zeng, University of Hong Kong