Online Assessment at Higher Educational Institutions

Abstract

Online assessment methods and their effects on online teaching and learning are other crucial points to investigate. Faculty members’ concerns regarding finding relevant and effective online assessment methods arose in Azerbaijan in 2020. Considering it as one of the factors affecting online teaching and learning, we decided to investigate teachers’ experiences with online assessment methods in local higher educational institutions. This study involved 11 faculty members from seven higher educational institutions. Their responses were obtained via semi-structured interviews that were held online. The questions mainly addressed how to learn faculty members’ experiences and challenges with online assessment methods and how they deal with those challenges. This study identified faculty members' major challenges such as providing feedback, using online assessment strategies to get credible data and engaging students in more modern and interactive assessment methods. The findings demonstrate that faculty need online teaching and assessment experience as this lack affects student learning outcomes. The findings further suggest that faculty need new assessment methods rather than traditional ones to replace group work or discussions, and those methods may contribute to faculty preparedness. Addressing the findings, the study resulted in proposing a series of webinar where faculty members will learn about new strategies and share ideas with other colleagues through lively discussions and involving innovative methods.