Abstract:

Changes to teaching and learning format and environment have happened gradually, with the advancement of technology, where academics have embraced an active learning approach and universities have increased their investment in digital infrastructure (Eckley et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2021). Nevertheless, in 2020, with the announcement of the Covid-19 pandemic, most educational institutions, from primary schools to higher education were forced to adopt online classes, with minimal preparation and with programs predominantly designed to be provided face-to-face. With the transition to remote education during the Covid-19 pandemic, accessible, reliable, and valid assessment became increasingly indispensable to establish how well a student has learned the contents and achieved the desired learning outcomes (Gupta et al., 2020; Sedaghatjou et al., 2021).

The purpose of this paper, which is part of the Erasmus+ project “REMOTE: Assessing and evaluating remote learning practices in STEM”, is to compile different assessment and evaluation methods employed in remote education of STEM courses (before, during and after the pandemic), the success of their implementation and their main challenges. A systematic literature review using Scopus and Web of Science databases was developed, using different combinations of keywords, in order to capture the most pertinent literature. After a first search, a total of 60 papers were deeply analysed and 23 were particularly found relevant for the purpose of our research.

The literature shows that the assessment process and challenges in remote education of STEM courses do not significantly differ from other disciplines.
The main challenges identified in the literature have mostly occurred due to the abrupt shift to remote education and assessment, namely the physical distance, teachers’ lack of digital literacy, the adaptation of the material to the online environment, the absence of appropriate infrastructure for remote education and academic dishonesty (Bocanet et al., 2021; Gupta et al., 2020). When remote education became the new normal worldwide for numerous students and academics, assessment practices were often changed and adapted to the new contexts and environments (Mottiar et al., 2022; Panadero et al., 2022).

The literature shows that in an online environment, key aspects in the assessment process like the diversity of assessment tools, the issues related to monitoring students' work, students' participation in the assessment through peer- or self-assessment, online feedback, the gamification of assessment and globally flexible, diverse, formative, and continuous assessment, become particularly relevant (Díez-Gutiérrez & Espinoza, 2021). Independently of the assessment method chosen, formative assessments and immediate, high-quality feedback allow students to know their strengths and weaknesses and prepare them for successfully completing the summative assessments. Flexibility, diversity, and continuity were also valuable aspects to consider when preparing assessment plans because of the importance placed on them by the students (Acosta-Gonzaga & Walet, 2018; Díez-Gutiérrez & Espinoza, 2021).

Remote education can be a powerful tool and enhance students’ learning and the achievement of the set outcomes for a course, especially when allied to face-to-face education, allowing teachers and students to combine and utilize the best of both modalities (Capone & Lepore, 2022; West et al., 2021).

Keywords:

STEM, Remote learning, Online education, Remote assessment.