Computer-Assisted Assessment: Impact on Higher Education Institutions

As an increasing number of higher education institutions (HEI's) look to computers to solve some of the problems associated with the burden of expanded student numbers, advances in technology are increasingly impacting the way in which the curriculum is delivered and assessed (Hartley et al, 1999). More contentious than using computers to deliver content and support student learning is computer-assisted assessment (CAA). CAA can include a range of activities such as, the collation, analysis and transmission of examination grades across networks and, most desirably, the use of computer-based assessment, where students complete assessments at workstations and their answers are automatically marked. CAA is, in comparison to computer-aided learning, a relatively new development and is often pioneered by enthusiastic individual academics (Stephens et al, 1998). The successful implementation of CAA is often hindered or abandoned due to time and funding restrictions, or reliance on an individual academic.