Challenges and perspectives in evaluating university students’ work: European language for special purposes teachers’ experience on emergency remote teaching

Abstract

As European universities switched to emergency remote teaching (ERT) due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Providing authentic and credible assessment of students’ work has posed a real challenge to teachers, thus the effectiveness of traditional forms of assessment has been questioned. This study presents the results of international qualitative research administered among language for special purposes (LSP) teachers in 10 European countries at 12 higher education institutions. In-depth interviews with language teachers (N=12) were conducted with the aim of exploring their assessment-related experiences during ERT. Interviewees revealed the challenges they faced (student dishonesty, institutional regulations, increased workload) and the solutions adopted (prioritizing formative assessment, applying open assessment practice, personalized evaluation) to tackle the critical issues of assessment. The study argues for making use of possibilities emerging from ERT, and it discusses a possible pedagogical shift in LSP assessment methods.