Technology-Enhanced Assessment for Skill and Knowledge Acquisition in Online Education

Abstract

Technology-Enhanced Assessment (TEA) has become increasingly attractive in higher education. However, the nature of such assessments has often been limited to simple type of questions such as MCQs, which are usually knowledge-based. Cognitive skills and practical abilities cannot be assessed via simple types of questions. This raised the need to introduce interactive and intelligent dimensions into e-assessment. This research provides a new learning experience for students in both skill and knowledge assessment in online education. This was achieved through a design of a general TEA system which can be adapted to any context and an architecture that allows interoperability, security and integration of modules. The system also provides student, interactivity and the opportunity to act on the feedback through a proposed formative e-assessment model. After application of the system in the real context, it was observed that the use of the TEA system and the formative e-assessment model had a positive impact on students: they learned through engagement with the system and their performance in terms of final marks had improved. The system also provided added benefits to teachers through automated marking and tracking of students' progress throughout the whole course. Finally, with the ever increasing interests and adaptation of e-assessment, this research has produced a new perspective, not only theoretical but practical as well.