ASSESSMENT PRACTICES IN HIGHER EDUCATION

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CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

 INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1 provided the background and objectives of the study. Chapter 2 is divided into three sections which provide critical information on assessment practices within the context of ODeL, sourced from the relevant literature, to produce a body of evidence about student assessment that is informed and critiqued by assessment theory and research. The first section provides an overview of theories of distance education that speak to technology-enhanced assessment practices in ODeL contexts (see section 2.3 of this chapter). This section is aimed at grounding e-learning and e-assessment pedagogy in higher education institutions. However, emphasis will be given to those studies that shed most light on how lecturers utilise technology to enhance assessment practices and student feedback in ODeL contexts. In this context, the necessity to specify the paradigms or theories underlying student assessment practices in open distance and e-learning is obvious.
The second section reviews other learning theories that are associated with the research paradigm for this study namely, interpretive social constructivism. Further, this literature study reviews resources such as books, chapters in books, conference proceedings and journal articles that are not necessarily focused on technology-enhanced assessment but which have a bearing on or contain useful information or ideas about assessment practices in both distance and conventional education. The third section provides a comparative account of other ODeL universities which use innovative assessment practices and which have shaped my personal approach to this research study. Although these distance teaching universities share several similarities, they are not identical in their mission or practice. For convenience, the researcher divided these into two categories, the first including those universities that are open in terms of their admission criteria and the second including those universities that have admission criteria but which have considerable experience in reaching rural or dispersed students using online resources. From both categories, the researcher has made a selection of those mega universities most relevant for this study. These are: The Western Governors University (WGU) in the USA, New York State University (SUNY), Open University of the United Kingdom (OUUK), Athabasca University in Canada, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in India, the Open University of China (OUC), in Beijing, China. These universities were selected because, like the University of South Africa, they are dedicated distance education institutions collectively embracing pedagogical models that actively engage learners through the utilisation of technology as a tool to enhance teaching and learning.
This literature review is intended to determine the research currently available to address both the research topic and future research needed (see section 6.4) to gain a satisfactory perspective on the impact that technology-enhanced assessment has on student learning. It focuses on the ways in which technology alongside appropriate pedagogies is and can be used to enhance student assessment ODeL environments. Much of the current literature on open distance and e-learning (usually sourced from writers living in the developed world) assumes that students have easy access to computer hardware and other appropriate forms of connectivity such as 3G, 4G or fast, efficient Wi-Fi. While this literature is, in the main, useful and sound, what this study is offering is a localised South African perspective in which many students struggle to get the technological resources required.
This research study is, therefore, undertaken from a locale in which the above mentioned are not to be taken for granted. For example, at the time of writing this thesis, many students in South Africa struggle to obtain or simply cannot afford fast and freely available wireless Internet connections with the inevitable limitations this causes for effective e-learning. Throughout this chapter the researcher argues that even though much research has been done on technology-enhanced teaching and learning, there is still a gap on how technology can be utilised effectively to enhance and influence student assessment and feedback in ODeL. The researcher will also argue that the relative weightings of such technologies versus effective pedagogies involving tried and tested ways of teaching and learning should be carefully examined and that the most useful pedagogies are those that incorporate appropriate technologies as part of the teaching and learning package. Further, if digital technological tools are to be truly effective, they cannot be applied mechanistically but should be used flexibly and with an accompanying mind shift on the part of administrators and academics alike. A further aspect in this section will be the ways in which effective pedagogies can enhance assessment and feedback by using as example Unisa’s Signature Course project implemented at the Unisa in 2013. These Signature Courses will function both as a critical starting point for the researcher’s research findings as well as a yardstick against which the effectiveness of technology-enhanced pedagogy in both conventional and distance education contexts will be measured.

ODeL THEORIES USED IN THE STUDY

Distance learning for higher education has its advocates and its detractors. Undoubtedly, with increasingly rapid technological developments including hand-held, networked and personal hardware capable of processing huge amounts of data, and advances in creating virtual classrooms, the allure of delivering quality education cheaply and widely has attracted the attention of educators, policy-makers, corporate boards and end-users. While it is not the purpose of this study to review definitions of distance education, the researcher will provide a brief commentary on some important theories of distance education in order to clarify their place and relevance to this study. In the previous section, the researcher provided a discussion of behaviourist, cognitivist, and constructivist learning theories.
However, these broad and underlying theories should be read alongside other and more recent theories that are pertinent to an understanding of the challenges faced by large-scale universities such as Unisa in adapting their processes and pedagogies to the affordances of digital technologies which, in theory, can bridge the distance between the institution and the students in distinct ways but which, in practice, prove to be problematic. Unisa, through its Signature Courses pedagogy, is attempting to solve its challenges in relation to creating cost-effective and pedagogically effective ways to engage in online learning and assessment. There are a number of theories that deal with students in distance education, for instance: Keegan’s (1980:13) two-way communication theory, Moore’s (1991:1) transactional distance theory, Max Weber’s bureaucratic theory, Taylor’s scientific and administrative theory, Moore’s (1989) learner-instructor interaction theory, Holmberg’s (2003:79) guided didactic conversation theory, Peters’ (2003:87) industrial model theory, and Siemens’s (2004) connectivism theory among others. However, this study will only deal with those theories that directly speak to the research topic. With this study, the researcher also intends to weigh their importance and validity for assessment practices in open distance and e-learning contexts.
For the purpose of this study only four theories that are directly related to the study are going to be discussed. First, the researcher provides a concise discussion based on Keegan’s two-way communication theory. This is followed by Holmberg’s (1989) guided didactic conversation theory and Siemens’ (2005) connectivism theory. The researcher concludes with Laurillard’s conversational learning framework which is not a theory per se but a very useful model for understanding teaching and learning in digitally enhanced environments. These theories are going to be discussed within a broader context of other theories of ODeL and foreground those concepts that have a particular relevance for effective assessment practices in ODeL contexts. The theories and operational concepts to be discussed here have a common focus: they emphasise the use of technology to mediate teaching and learning in open distance and e-learning environments. Further, these theories have been chosen because they speak to ideas which create opportunities for students to construct knowledge through the utilisation of technological affordances in both distance and conventional institutions.

 Keegan’s two-way communication theory

As indicated in chapter 1 of this study, distance education self-evidently differs in crucial ways from traditional contact-based tuition but it has also suffered, historically, from a lack of theories pertaining to its distinct nature as education at a distance (see section 1.7 in chapter 1 of this study). Keegan (1980, 2005) challenged this state of affairs by categorising and classifying current theories of distance education and thus helped in part to redeem the field of distance education from its hitherto poor reputation. He also defined distance education (1980:13) variously as a wall-less education, open learning, open teaching, non-traditional education, distance learning, distance teaching, correspondence education, independent study, home study, flexible education, flexible learning, lifelong-learning, individualised learning, and supported self-study education. Keegan (1980) is also important in purporting a two-way communication theory, emphasising the pedagogic processes that exist between the student and the lecturer and articulating the necessity to recreate the inter-subjectivity that exists between the student and the lecturer in conventional education through carefully prepared study materials which may or may not be mediated by technologies such as teleconferencing, videos, and so on. Keegan (1980) underlined the ‘artificiality’ of the process whereby the inter-subjectivity between student and lecturer is consciously reconstructed for the distance learner. Keegan’s importance in the discourse of distance education rests in his justification of distance education (DE) as a distinct and theoretically valid field and in his ideas supporting the reintegration of the teaching act which occurs via a two-way process (Keegan, 1980). This links directly to one of the central concerns of the study, that dialogic communication between the student and the lecturer is crucial in facilitating the educational process. Keegan’s two-way communication theory coincides with contemporary concerns in student-lecturer interaction which makes it possible for the student to become motivated and receive feedback. Further, Keegan’s (1980) two-way communication theory takes on new life for student-student interaction when appropriate technology is used to deliver instruction, as is the case with Unisa’s Signature Course pedagogy.
Keegan’s two-way communication theory is important in this research study since it gestures towards the crucial role that digital technology plays in bridging or narrowing the teaching-learning gap that exists between the student and the educator, students and their peers, student and the institution. Keegan (like Holmberg, who will be discussed later) also considers that printed instructional materials can be designed to include many of the characteristics of interpersonal communication and therefore does not limit his notion of interpersonal communication to telephone tutorials, teleconferences, or other similar forms. However, Keegan (2005:33) was aware of the emergence of electronic communication and the issues in research and practice that real time communication may bring to the fore in the field. In Keegan’s view (2005), apart from students in the traditional sense, technology can cater for anyone, anytime, anywhere, who is in need of information for the betterment of their lives and is thus an attempt to introduce and link the notion that teaching and communication are equally vital areas of concern when studying through distance education as they are for people everywhere. The researcher now moves on to another pioneering theorist in distance education, Borje Holmberg, who has contributed significantly to the development of distance education over several decades.

 Holmberg’s guided didactic conversation theory

At the heart of Holmberg’s (1989) theory is the concept of the guided didactic conversation, which refers to both real and simulated conversations, although the reliance is upon simulated conversation. Although conversation is the defining characteristic, this theory is directed to the pre-produced course package and falls clearly within Otto Peters’ industrial paradigm. While the industrial paradigm had considerable influence on distance education, it was neither a theory of teaching nor of learning, but rather a contribution to clear thinking around the organisation of distance education, particularly because it encourages the use of technology to teach/reach those students who could not have access to traditional education (Peters, 1994). The industrial paradigm is associated with a specific mode of production linked to manufacturing processes (Peters, 1994, 2000).
According to the industrial paradigm, if technology is utilised there will be mass production in and enabled access by many people to distance education. Peters’ argument is that communications technology and lifelong learning demands will precipitate a transformation of the traditional university into an institution of self-study and distance teaching (Peters, 2000). It is this that persuaded Holmberg (1989:64) that, regardless of how conversational the pre-produced course is, communication between the instructor and the distance learner is essential. In essence, this theory posits distance education as a friendly conversation fostered by well-developed self-instructional materials resulting in personal relations, intellectual pleasure and motivation to study (Holmberg, 1989). Another element in Holmberg’s (1989:64) thinking is that the empathy that we usually see in face-to-face interactions should also be present in distance education. However, according to him this can only be possible when organisational and administrative structures and processes are created to facilitate the process (Holmberg, 2003).
In addition to friendly conversation and a friendly atmosphere, Holmberg (2003) also advocated the use of guided didactic conversation as an intrinsic component of effective distance education. Empathy between those who teach and those who learn is universally a good basis for learning. In Holmberg’s view (2003) dialogue should be grounded in strategies such as empathy-based conversation, whose aim is to recreate ties between students and lecturers by means of simulated communication. According to Holmberg (2003), dialogue and interaction between lecturers and students are important because the two parties are able to collaborate and interact with each other. Easily understandable conversations, enabled by presentations and friendly interactions, help students to learn (Holmberg, 1989:64). In this way, learning is a process characterised much more by active student involvement rather than being dependent on the exclusive influence of the lecturer (Vygotsky, 1978).

CHAPTER 1  ORIENTATION AND MOTIVATION OF THE STUDY
1.1 INTRODUCTORY BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT OF THE STUDY
1.2 GENERATIONS OF DISTANCE EDUCATION AND THEIR DELIVERY TECHNOLOGIES
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.4 UNISA’S PEDAGOGICAL SHIFT FROM ODL TO ODeL MODEL
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.6 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
1.7 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1.8 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.9 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1.10 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
1.11 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
1.12 DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
1.13 DEFINITIONS OF OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS/TERMS
1.14 ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS
1.15 CHAPTER SUMMARY
CHAPTER 2  LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 ODeL THEORIES USED IN THE STUDY
2.3 THEORIES OF LEARNING USED IN THE STUDY
2.4 ASSESSMENT PRACTICES IN HIGHER EDUCATION
2.5 TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED ASSESSMENT
2.6 THE SIGNATURE COURSES PEDAGOGY
2.7 ASSESSMENT IN OTHER MEGA ODeL UNIVERSITIES
2.8 CHAPTER SUMMARY
CHAPTER 3  RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 RESEARCH PARADIGM: INTERPRETIVE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
3.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: MIXED METHODS RESEARCH
3.4 STUDY TRUSTWORTHINESS
3.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY
CHAPTER 4  PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS FROM INDIVIDUAL AND FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS
4.3 TRIANGULATION OF FINDINGS FROM FOCUS GROUPS DISCUSSIONS
4.4 ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY’S FINDINGS
4.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY
CHAPTER 5  ESTABLISHMENT OF STUDENT ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES FOR ODL
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 REFLECTIONS ON THE UNISA SIGNATURE COURSE PEDAGOGY
5.3 TOWARDS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF STUDENT ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES
5.4 IMPLICATIONS OF THE GUIDELINES ON STUDENT ASSESSMENT
5.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY
CHAPTER 6  SUMMARY OF THE STUDY FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, LIMITATIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 SUMMARY OF THE MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
6.3 CONCLUSIONS
6.4 RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY
6.5 REFLECTIONS ON THE STUDY METHODOLOGIES
6.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
6.7 STUDY IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE AND ASSESSMENT
REFERENCES
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