Online Exams in the Time of COVID-19: Quality Parameters

Abstract

Face-to-face teaching has been substituted by online teaching due to the closure of educational institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main problem of the online platforms for teachers is to assess students and justify the level of their performance in the online exam. This paper has attempted to answer how teachers are justifying the online assessment of their students during the pandemic. A questionnaire comprising three open-ended questions about online testing was distributed among 50 teachers: 25 from King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia and 25 from Cluster University, Srinagar, India. Teachers’ responses vary and were used as measures to check the quality of students’ performance in online testing. The findings of the study sum up the teachers’ views on the justification of online exams from home. According to the majority of teachers, it is possible when different assessment tools are used, objective and subjective questions are merged, and random blocks of one question paper are prepared to assess the students of one section following speaking exam or some kind of interaction about the online exam. Another way of justifying the performance of students in online testing is interactive, continuous, creative and alternative assessment throughout the semester. For this, synchronous online classes are required with active engaging activities. Some teachers responded that the active participation of students during the online lectures makes it easy for them to justify their students’ level of performance in online assessment. Furthermore, this research recommends some tips to apply in online teaching to achieve success in online testing.