Research project Responsible Digital Assessment Futures in Higher Education (REFINE)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of digital assessment in higher education increased dramatically. What are the teachers’ experiences from this? And what are the key opportunities and challenges in designing and implementing digital assessment?
The Responsible Digital Assessment Futures in Higher Education (REFINE) project aims to envision digital assessment futures. We do this by unpacking the opportunities and challenges that digital assessment brings to higher education for students’ improved learning.
The project specifically focuses on stakeholders directly and indirectly involved in the design and implementation of effective and responsible digital assessment practices. The project addresses the following research questions:
• What are teachers’ experiences of digital assessment in higher education?
• Which are the key opportunities and challenges (e.g., legal, ethical, organizational, technical, and pedagogical) of trusted digital assessment?
We work with a mixed-method human-centred approach comprising an online national survey that will be distributed to educators across several higher education institutions in Sweden. Two workshops will follow this with stakeholders – educators, lawyers, managers, and system developers – involved in designing and implementing digital assessment in higher education.
Project description
By adopting a multi-stakeholder perspective, we aim to address several key challenges of digital assessment and suggest ways forward for students’ improved learning, improved learner support and teaching in the post-pandemic higher education setting.
The project is a collaborative effort by a group of researchers from KTH and Stockholm University, representing the departments of Digital Learning, Media Technology and Interaction Design, Network and Systems Engineering at KTH and the Department of Computer and Systems Science at Stockholm University.
All project members have much-needed complementary expertise and knowledge in technology-enhanced learning, organizational aspects of higher education, assessment, learning analytics and responsible approaches related to the use of digital tools and student data in higher education.
The outcomes of this seed project will contribute to digital assessment research and practice.
First, it will enhance our understanding of current digital assessment practices and their associated challenges and opportunities in the setting of Swedish higher education.
Second, based on this understanding, a set of recommendations for sustainable future digital assessment practices will be offered.
Third, it will provide a foundation for creating and advancing competitive research proposals on digital assessment futures.
Background
Effective assessment practices are central to student learning and academic achievement. Whereas online assessment forms have, to some degree, been present prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional examination forms had a stronghold within higher education and have often been the preferred way of assessing students. Restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a dramatic increase in the use of digital assessment, including formative and summative digital assessment practices in higher education.
In this regard, scholars and practitioners have shown some of the advantages of adopting digital assessment tools, such as personalized and accurate assessment, but also concerns, including issues of ethics, privacy, fairness, trust and security associated with the use of digital assessment tools (e.g., proctoring software).
More information about the project is available on the Digital Futures website
Project members
Project managers
Members
Teresa Cerratto-Pargman
Professor
