Abstract:

In recent years, the coronavirus pandemic in particular has led to a significant increase in the use of digital tools for online and blended learning formats. Courses with project work in particular can benefit greatly from digital support in the area of online assessment. The intermediate status of the projects is often assessed by the lecturer over the course of the semester. In addition, students assess each other's progress, with the lecturer organizing the collection, summary and anonymous distribution of this feedback. Although the workflow described increases the lecturer's workload compared to a one-off written examination, it also leads to the promotion of various skills, such as self-reflection, critical thinking or analytical skills. The resulting additional workload can be reduced through the targeted use of digitalization approaches. At Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, various digital tools have already been used in a course named Digital Business. So far, only the automated aggregation of feedback has been successfully implemented. However, the data could not be further processed and distributed with computer support.

This paper describes an approach to the digital transformation of the current workflow in order to minimize manual tasks and make the entire process more efficient for lecturers. In this context, the individual necessary work steps could be identified, analyzed and adequately mapped. This made it possible to design and implement a web-based application that records student submissions and feedback, automatically processes and visualizes the data received and enables the lecturer to monitor the process. The use of the developed application can lead to a reduction in manually performed tasks, such as the manual distribution and summary of feedback. The applicability to the aforementioned context and the later generalizability to other modules is to be determined by means of an application study. A/B tests with and without the developed application are to be used to assess the effort required by the lecturer. In addition, usability surveys are to be conducted among students to determine how intuitive and easy it is to use the application. The feedback from the students should help to identify weaknesses and understand how well the application is accepted.

Keywords:

Online assessment, web application, assessment transformation, feedback handling.