Data-Driven Decision-Making (DDDM) for Higher Education Assessments: A Case Study

Abstract

The higher education (HE) system is witnessing immense transformations to keep pace with the rapid advancements in digital technologies and due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic compelling educational institutions to completely switch to online teaching and assessments. Assessments are considered to play an important and powerful role in students’ educational experience and evaluation of their academic abilities. However, there are many stigmas associated with both “traditional” and alternative assessment methods. Rethinking assessments is increasingly happening worldwide to keep up with the shift in current teaching and learning paradigms due to new possibilities of using digital technologies and a continuous improvement of student engagement. Many educational decisions such as a change in assessment from traditional summative exams to alternate methods require appropriate rationale and justification. In this paper, we adopt data-driven decision-making (DDDM) as a process for rethinking assessment methods and implementing assessment transformations innovatively in an HE environment. We make use of student performance data to make an informed decision for moving from exam-based assessments to nonexam assessment methods. We demonstrate the application of the DDDM approach for an educational institute by analyzing the impact of transforming the assessments of 13 out of 27 subjects offered in a Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) program as a case study. A comparison of data analysis performed before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic using different student learning measures such as failure rates and mean marks provides meaningful insights into the impact of assessment transformations. Our implementation of the DDDM model along with examining the influencing factors of student learning through assessment transformations in an HE environment is the first of its kind. With many HE providers facing several challenges due to the adoption of blended learning, this pilot study based on a DDDM approach encourages innovation in classroom teaching and assessment redesign. In addition, it opens further research in implementing such evidence-based practices for future classroom innovations and assessment transformations towards achieving higher levels of educational quality.