Digital Innovation in Assessment During Lockdown: Perspectives of Higher Education Teachers in Portugal

During the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown policies forced higher education teachers to adopt remote teaching. This disruptive situation challenged teachers to continue delivering classes and carrying out assessment online. In order to investigate higher education teachers’ perceptions about the online assessment, a survey was conducted in Portugal. The study focuses on digital tools and methodologies used in online assessment, first-time digital tools used, and the tools and methodologies that teachers intend to maintain in face-to-face assessment, as well as confidence in students’ results. Data was collected online from May to July 2021. Participants (n = 868) were from all fields of science and technology. Most of them (80%) reported the use of new assessment tools and methodologies during this period. The majority (72%) has confidence in the results obtained by the students. However, some of them (36%) reported academic fraud situations. Digital tools related to summative assessment are the most prevalent, but methodologies related to formative assessment were also used. Some teachers (49%) intend to use methodologies and tools in face-to-face classes used for the first-time during the lockdown.