The Challenge of Assessment and Evaluation in Online Education

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone in unforeseeable ways. From an educational perspective, this pandemic is affecting both learners and teachers as many countries have suspended their in-person classes due to the fear of spreading the COVID-19 virus. STEM education, in the formal learning environment, is the cornerstone of our industrial base. Economic growth is predicated on the expansion of research and development along with the meaningful deployment of new technologies in business and government. However, STEM education is typically viewed as both hands-on and higher risk for distance educators, demanding more intense and more complex infrastructure than other fields.

Led by Mina Sedaghatjou, a small group of us are trying to help STEM instructors who have been forced to change to online instruction in a hurry. We will host ten webinars, each 120 minutes, based on the emerging needs, to assist and tackle the STEM faculty members’ current concerns. The webinars are recorded and shared with public and will be free of charge. These webinars aim to:

1. Facilitate discussions surrounding the teaching members’ challenges; and
2. Foster a community of practice where participants will be able to support each other by sharing their resources and expertise.

Having taught online mathematics courses for 10 years, I gave the first one focusing on the challenges of assessment and evaluation in the online classroom, especially in mathematics. You can view it on YouTube, below: