Best Practice 2 - E-Assessment

What is E-Assessment...?

E-Assessment is the use of ICT for assessment-related activity. It covers a wide range of student activity ranging from the use of a word processor to on-screen testing. E-Assessment can be used to assess both cognitive and practical abilities. 

Among the benefits in using E-Assessment in teaching and learning is that it offers a lower long-term costs. At the same time, E-Assessment will also provide an instant feedback to students together with greater flexibility with respect to location and timing. At the same time it will improve reliability and impartiality. On top of that, E-Assessment can provide greater storage efficiency and will enhance question styles which incorporate interactivity.

Success Story

In 2005, the Universities of Leeds, Bradford & Huddersfield and Leeds Metropolitan &York St John Universities came together to form an “Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings” (ALPS). The formation of ALPS is ine with an emerging emphasis on inter-professional practice in health and social care professions. The main purpose was  to take advantage of mobile technology in order to engage students more closely in the assessment process.

Professor Trudie Roberts, the director of ALPS CETL from the University of Leeds agrees that the ALPS Program is an opportunity to do something which was amazingly creative, risk taking which will take take the university to the edge of where learning and teaching might be.

ALPS investigated the use of mobile technology to improve the assessment and learning experience of students while on placement. The ALPS programme is considered to be multi-faceted which involve a radical review of assessment practices across 16 healthcare professions. It also complies with the requirements of stakeholder groups such as the National Health Service and professional, statutory and regulatory bodies which pays great attention to ethical and legal aspects of professional practice.

Results indicated that a very wide variation in confidence and perceived competence across the different professional cohorts. However, there were some areas where students generally appeared less confident across all professions. These areas include in dealing with conflict and negotiate differences, motivating others as well as dealing with cultural issues. Additionally, the result shows that there is a dip in confidence   among the students within six months after their graduation.

As a result of the ALPS programme, students are benefitting from more responsive tutorial support, reflective tools and easy access to key medical texts to support their practice. Students can easily assemble their work in one place and can reflect on work before submitting it for assessment. Tutors are notified when  the work is ready for assessment and can make a feedback in a timely manner. Tutors are also able to monitor progress and prioritise workplace visits for those most in need of support.  The authenticity of the assessment twinned with the ability to capture immediate feedback from multiple sources is proving beneficial to students, service users and tutors.

Source: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/elearning/digiemerge/7