REVIEW: Assessment Strategies for Online Learning Engagement and Authenticity

Abstract

Assessment, evaluation and grading have been used to verbalise the result or the process of learning and teaching interchangeably. However, with the rise of the student-centered teaching paradigm, the difference in application and notion of these terms are becoming clearer. Assessment is formative and sheds light on the process while evaluation is summative and gives importance to results. The emergence of open learning makes academicians to reconsider these assessment means. The advancement in technological means has led flexible learning tools to spread, especially online learning. Online learning’s widespread acceptance requires new ways of assessments which will both show the learning efforts of learners and encourage them to deepen their learning. The approval of the Community of Inquiry Model (CoI) necesitates social, cognitive and teaching presence, which results in engagement and authenticity in assessment.