Applying Assessment Principles during Emergency Remote Teaching: Challenges and Considerations

Abstract

One of the main challenges higher educational institutions encounter amid the recent COVID-19 crisis is transferring assessment approaches from the traditional face-to-face form to the online Emergency Remote Teaching approach. A set of language assessment principles, practicality, reliability, validity, authenticity, and washback, which can be applied to any academic subject, are critical within the design of any task that aims to assess learning. This review paper discusses how assessment approaches need to be modified in a time of crisis. It determines the position assessment should adopt within emergency remote teaching methods and analyzes the fundamental characteristics of five principles of assessment and how they can be accomplished with emergency remote teaching approaches. Furthermore, this paper evaluates the vulnerability and viability of the five assessment principles, examines the application of online assessment on a holistic level, and puts forward a set of recommendations to ensure the assessment principles are achieved within emergency remote learning contexts. The paper concludes with the notion that the construct of time, which is inherent within the principle of practicality, is the most significant when developing online assessments as it is this characteristic that is the most at risk. In addition, we suggest that the assessments that are implemented during emergency remote learning involve open-ended, as opposed to close-ended, questions and highlight the importance of educators demonstrating flexibility and understanding toward their students.