Abstract:

Traditional models of teaching, learning and assessment have focused on teacher-centred learning, standardized testing, formal examinations and frameworks for assessment that do not match the needs of learners in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In these older models, the power of assessment and evaluation rests in the hands of the instructor. This pedagogical approach is insufficient to meet the learning challenges presented by the cross-sector disruption created by the global pandemic. While many colleges and universities were forced to rapidly shift to what many termed ‘emergency remote teaching’, the long-term fallout of the pandemic is that many institutions of higher education have seen some advantages to adopting a move to online education. However, the ensuing necessary changes in our approaches to assessment and evaluation have not yet followed. A shift in pedagogy necessitates a shift in modes of assessment and evaluation, towards a more nimble, variable, personalized and student-centred model.

Educational systems are often slow to change, adapt and discard old paradigms. This paper argues that our current global situation has created the precise conditions of chaos and disruption to allow opportunities for new paradigms of education to emerge. While the authors acknowledge the devastating impact of Covid, we challenge teachers and educational leaders to use this rapid shift to home learning, online learning, and self-directed learning as an opportunity to shift gears.

In considering pedagogical ideas such as authentic assessment, socially constructivist approaches to assessment, reflective practice, self-directed learning and fully online learning communities, the authors review how these approaches can more readily meet the needs of learners. A theoretical model of Fully Online Learning Communities (FOLC) is presented, as a framework to support the evolution of more authentic and student-centred models of assessment. This paper is a reflective evaluation of how the impact of the global pandemic opens doors for a full-scale evolution of approaches to assessment and evaluation.

Keywords:

Authentic Assessment, Post Covid, Pedagogy, Online Communities.