STUDENT PREFERENCE OF ASSESSMENT IN ONLINE LEARNING:
SYNCHRONOUS OR ASYNCHRONOUS ASSESSMENT
Education institutions have changed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. As a result
of the pandemic, schools conduct all their activities with students online.
Internet-based learning used to be an option for traditional education, but it became an
essential element during this pandemic in maintaining school activities.
In this new setup, students have the option of asynchronous or synchronous learning. A
year into this setup, students can now weigh the pros and cons and decide which type of
learning they prefer to continue.
In this regard, now that the students have seen firsthand the disadvantages and benefits
of both asynchronous and synchronous discussions or instructions, is their preference for
instructions different to their preferred manner of assessment (if done synchronously or
asynchronously)?
Literature Review
The current technological advancements allow us to employ several ways to design the
online content. It is very important to consider the preferences and perception of learners
while designing the online courses to make the learning effective and productive.
Preference of the learner is related to the readiness or willingness of the learner to
participate in collaborative learning and the factors influencing the readiness for online
learning. (T., S., K.S., & Jha, 2021)
Any efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of online learning needs to understand the
perception of the users. (Swan, et al., 2000)
However, designing and conducting efficient online assessment has always been a
challenging area to instructors (Chen & Liu, 2018)
The purpose of assessment is to determine whether or to what extent students’
performances and learning outcomes meet the expected criterion set in the objectives.
Pending on the types of activities or learning outcomes, we can choose the type of
assessment: synchronous or asynchronous assessment. Online synchronous
assessment is conducted with real-time online interactions between the instructor and
students or among students; asynchronous assessment is performed with activities that
are not simultaneous or concurrent in time (Chen & Liu, 2018)
(Chao et al., 2012; Lee & Liu, 2016).
Chao, Hung, and Chen (2012) reported their study on four online synchronous
assessment methods: (a) using synchronous quizzes to assess factual knowledge, (b)
using synchronous practices to assess procedural knowledge, (c) using synchronous
essays to assess conceptual knowledge, and (d) and using synchronous oral exams to
assess knowledge. The findings of the study show positive outcomes, using weekly web
conference to facilitate and improve student online learning (Chao, I.C., & Chen, 2012).
A separate study conducted about asynchronous learning and assessments also shows
positive outcome with quick feedback and clear criterion for assessment as an essential
element for its positive results (Vonderwell, Liang, & Alderman, 2007)
Theories
Assessment is an important aspect of any teaching and learning system (Benson, 2003).
Assessment events drive learning outcomes and are essential for the design and
structure of a learning environment (Comeaux, 2005). Assessment includes all activities
that teachers and students undertake to get information that can be used diagnostically
to alter teaching and learning (Black & William, 1998).
An essential element to online learning is communication, feedback, interaction, and
assessment process (Liang & Creasy, 2004; Speck, 2002).
Planning of assessment starts from the original course design, for example, the original
content design and the design of technology use. First, as in these two cases, the
procedures, the selection of technology tools or platforms for assessment need to
carefully integrate the content design into the design of technology use (Liu & Velasquez,
2003).
Online discussion technology gives the ability to every learner to respond to questions
(Robles & Braathen, 2002), participate equally, and offer a potential to support the co-
construction of knowledge through meaningful discourse (Gilbert & Dabbagh, 2005).
References
Benson, A. (2003). Assessing participant learning in online environments. . New Directions for Adult and
Continuing Education,.
Black, P., & William, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment.
Chao, K., I.C., H., & Chen, N. (2012). On thr design of online synchronous cyber classroom. Journal of
Computer Assisted Learning.
Chen, L.-T., & Liu, L. (2018). Conducting Synchronous Assessment through Web Videoconference to
Improve Online Learning: Case Outcomes with Nonparametric Analysis. Journal of Educational
Technology Development and Exchange.
Comeaux, P. (2005). Creating communities of shared practice: The challenges of assessment use in
learning and teaching. Assessment & Evaluation .
Gilbert, P. K., & Dabbagh, N. (2005). how to structure online discussions for meaningful discourse: A case
study. British Journal of Educational Technology.
Liang, X., & Creasy, K. (2004). Classroom assessment in web-based instructional environment:
Instructors’ experience. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation,.
Liu, L., & Velasquezbryant, N. J. (2003). An information technology integration system and its life cycle:
What is missing? Computers in the Schools.
Robles, M., & Braathen, S. (2002). Online assessment techniques. The Delta Pi Epsilon Journal.
Swan, K., Shea, P., Fredericksen, E., Pickett, A., Pelz, W., & Maher, G. (2000). Building knowledge building
communities: Consistency, contact and communication in the virtual classroom. Journal of
Educational Computing Research.
T., M., S., A., K.S., A., & Jha, G. (2021). Students’ perception and preference for online education in India
during. Social Sciences & Humanities Open.
Vonderwell, S., Liang, X., & Alderman, K. (2007). Asynchronous Discussions and Assessment in Online
Learning. Journal of Research on Technology in Education.
