An investigation of students’ preferences, satisfaction and performance in online assessment amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic in Türkiye

This study aimed to discuss the online/e-assessment methods applied in the education faculties of state universities during the Covid-19 pandemic and to reveal student satisfaction and achievement in such methods. Accordingly, the relationships between student grades, the preferred method, and student satisfaction levels were examined by residential region and gender. The study was conducted on 371 university students from seven universities in different geographical regions of Turkey. A survey design, one of the quantitative research methods, was preferred in the study. The analysis results showed thatthe most preferred online assessment methods by the academics during the Covid-19 pandemic included homework (93%), timed online examinations (92%), and online presentation (76%). When students’ attitudes towards those assessment methods were examined, wefound that students’ favorite online assessment method was homework (71%), and timed online examinations (46%) and online presentations (31%) were the least preferred methods. Besides, the students received the highest grades (76 and above) by doing online homework (72%), online presentations (69%), and projects (62%). They received the lowest scores in online examinations (50%). The findings revealed a positive and significant relationship between students' satisfaction with online assessment methods and their grades, but there was no significant difference between student satisfaction and gender variable. The university's region was also an influential factor in determining student satisfaction. In conclusion, both faculty members/academics and students predominantly preferred the homework method, and the students received the highest grades with this method. Although the most preferred assessment method in face-to-face and online education is testing, most academics did not prefer e-tests, mainly stemming from their lack of experience in administering online tests and managing the potential problems of online assessment methods. Keywords: Covid-19, online assessment,  higher education