Framework for evaluating online assessment in business education: Trade-offs in promoting innovation

Abstract

The rapid transition to online teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted various challenges in designing and implementing online assessment. As part of a research project commissioned by the Australian Business Deans Council, we have developed a framework to evaluate online assessments against six design considerations and four contextual factors. Assessments must ensure academic integrity, be authentic, allow for the provision of quality feedback, support a positive learning experience for students, assure the integrity of student information and be delivered so that all enrolled students have an equal chance to complete the assessment successfully. Accreditation, resourcing, scale and institutional policies are contextual factors integral to evaluating and creating quality online assessment designs. Our study also revealed the tensions between increased efficiency and introducing innovation.

To encourage the framework application, in this paper we first introduce the participants to the framework. Second, we task them to employ the framework when designing innovative assessments within a set of given contexts. This will open a dialogue among business educators to explore and discuss strategies for designing and implementing innovative online assessments. We therefore aim to uncover productive discourse to help educators manage their challenges with online assessment and embrace new opportunities in today’s online world.