Research database

In March 2020, as the impact of COVID-19 and the lockdown measures put in place to contain it became clear, HEIs organizations faced an incommensurable challenge: how to transform long-established assessment processes based on pen-and-paper exams into online assessment activities, and how to shift from in presence teaching to provide remote learning programmes that are effective. HEIs have adapted rapidly to new practices across its entire operations since COVID-19 break, from learning and teaching to collaboration, student support and facilities. As the sector itself adapts, the appraisal of how these activities have taken place and what can we learn not only from their individual organizations but from a transnational and harmonized perspective is paramount in such changing times. The COVID-19 emergency is phasing out, but the necessity for remote assessment and learning is to remain as new practices have started to show their merits with respect to the ex-ante practices. Assessment is a cornerstone to HEIs reputation and impacts the outcomes of the learning activities that European students are currently receiving. HEIs have adapted in a very short time their assessment practices individually to fit online delivery. In doing so, they are required to guarantee that the assessment arrangements are reliable, in particular guarding against academic misconduct while also ensuring fair provision and treatment to students conditional to their personal situations. Yet, how do HEIs institutions ensure that remote assessment is secure, verify the identity of candidates for assessment, ensure that they are not making illicit use of reference materials. By the same token, most of university programmes have at least shifted to a blended version, showing the advantages of remote learning in being able to reach the students where they are, as well as the challenges of ensuring that students maintain the same level of preparation and knowledge compared to more traditional teaching methods. In that regard, it is of paramount importance to focus on subjects that will have an increasing importance in the future due to technological development, namely disruptive technologies, whose application has potential to drastically alter the processes and operations in the public sector and private companies, which will open a wide array of professional opportunities in the future. The main concrete objectives of the project are the following: O1: Provide an understanding of current assessment and remote learning practices provided by HEIs in southern Europe -Spain, Italy and Portugal- in STEM disciplines, and provide a benchmark with actionable and user-friendly guidelines about efficient and effective assessment and remote learning practices that would be recommended to be implemented in order to improve the students’ learning experience and the provisions of teaching in emergency situations. Guidelines will foresee to be replicable for different disciplines and geographic contexts. It is crucial that these guidelines consider the gender issues during the assessment. O2: Provide a roadmap and a sustainability plan that directly addresses how to implement the normative actions integrated in the guidelines. Roadmap will include how HEIs governance and management boards, administrative staff, students, teaching staff and researchers, can deliver and promote the assessment contained in the guidelines. O3: Provide a series of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) describing how the guidelines and the roadmap work, and how they can be operationalized. The MOOCs will be complemented with learning material such as presentations and literature reviews, and will be available for use by all stakeholders. Regarding the transnational dimension of the project, it is necessary to make the guidelines and their implementation effective and successful by meeting the needs of different types of HEIs across EHEA (European Higher Education Area) in the STEM disciplines.