Abstract:

United Arab Emirates is leading the way to integrate technology in all aspects of life and mainly education. Online Evaluation (OE) is being widely implemented at the higher education since 2013. This study is aiming to assess and compare the use of OE in math, history and chemistry courses. Twelve sections were involved in this research. Four sections from each subject with a total of 289 students and three faculty, one math faculty, one history faculty and one chemistry were selected.

The research questions discussed are:
(1) What are the effects of applying online evaluation (OE) versus OE with peer instruction (PI) on students’ grades enrolled in history, math and chemistry courses at the higher education level?
(2) What are the opportunities, challenges and limitations of online evaluation with peer instructions versus online evaluation alone from students and instructors’ perspectives in history, math and chemistry courses?

A multivariate statistical analysis of students’ grades was undertaken to answer the first research question; while a mixed method approach was used to collect data from students’ surveys, students’ focus group interviews, and teachers’ interviews to answer the second research question. The findings of this study showed that, in most cases, OE with PI was more beneficial at the learning level than OE alone. Many opportunities and challenges at the teacher and student level were discussed. Finally, OE software and strategies need to be improved in order to cover the educational needs of the 21st century students and teachers.

Keywords:

Online assessment, Peer instruction, Higher Education, UAE.