Promoting Academic Integrity in Remote/Online Assessment – EFL Teachers’ Perspectives

Abstract

The hasty adoption of remote teaching (RT) by educational institutes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted teaching, learning, and assessment. With most institutes unprepared for sudden lockdowns, and many educators lacking online teaching and assessment experience, old methods of assessment continued to be used, at least initially. When concerns about academic integrity soon followed, new pedagogical concepts and modes were trialed in the hopes of addressing perceived inadequacies. This study, using a mixed-method design, investigates teacher-participants’ perceptions of online assessment and academic integrity. It explores the challenges they believed had a detrimental effect on the latter – technical difficulties, problems due to lack of physical presence, student behavioral issues, and concerns about assessment design and process. This study also discusses teacher-participants’ suggested approaches to safeguarding against dishonesty, including modifications in design, conduct, and evaluation of quizzes and exams. Finally, it ends with teacher-participants’ recommendations and suggestions for policy-level changes to help minimize the adverse effects of prolonged RT.