Emerging remote assessment in times of the COVID-19 pandemic: analysis of experience in higher education

ABSTRACT

At the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), a classroom course in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) takes place in a laboratory equipped with high-end computers and free of distractions. These conditions place the student in a comfortable environment to exploit their learning potential adequately. On the other hand, the results of this course in virtual modality are subject to the possession and quality of the resources of each teacher and student such as internet connection, computer performance, and family environment. As a consequence, new ways for the evaluation of the GIS virtual course are proposed to offer (as much as possible) equity among all students. A geo-referenced survey of 40 students of the GIS course was conducted to learn about the possession and quality of technological resources, and ongoing training activities were carried out during the course. In addition, the performance of the students' computers was measured using the Novabench software. Finally, the results show no relationship between final grades and computer performance. It is possible that this is the result of the implementation of multiple evaluations, feedback, and self-regulation instruments by the teacher. © 2021 Latin American and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions. All rights reserved.