Internal and External Assessment of University Online Education

You might be familiar with the word ‘assessment’. Assessment is a process of collecting, understanding and monitoring the data delivered by the student in the exam. Assessment means monitoring and then evaluating students based on their academic performances. If we talk about higher education or at the university level, exams are designed by external bodies and are evaluated by both external and internal bodies. It is the common way of examining students and then evaluating them accordingly. The assessment procedure in online education is a little bit different from the procedure of traditional education. In online education, it becomes challenging to do the assessment.

Students are investing in different services in online education, i.e. they search to take my online exam. The focus and investment are made in these areas, as they are considered to be the source of balancing the students’ work-life balance. With the facilitation of these channels, the students can focus on their work without being missed from their academic certifications and degrees. It is crucial to plan for a strict schedule for the students to manage their academic and work life, as the online exam helping facilities support them in this regard.

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

University ensures that the student is fulfilling the desired credit hours and allocating his major focus on his studies; this is the main criterion of internal assessment. The internal assessment also evaluates a student based on his presence and punctuality in the class. The students’ punctuality helps the institute evaluate their academics effectively, and this helps in their perfect overall grading. The internal assessment involves all the teachers, professors, and internal bodies of the institute, while no external body is involved in assessing the student.

The assessment criteria is the student’s understanding of the lecture being delivered in the class by the teacher on a particular course or topic. The evaluation of curriculum helps in the grading of students that tell about their current position they are standing on. There is a certain weightage according to which a student is said to be good, fair, or poor. After evaluating the student, the teacher and other internal bodies give possible feedback to their guardians so that they can improve themselves for future assessments. Furthermore, internal assessments also make consistent results so external bodies can evaluate them.

Advantages

The primary advantage of internal assessment is that the course instructor prepares and checks the exam, so he gives relevant feedback about the student. Moreover, the instructor knows the student closely, so it is easy for him to evaluate the student better. Teachers, after assessment, can also find other teaching methodologies if any are lacking in the student’s results. On the other hand, this method is also beneficial for the students as they will be fairly knowledgeable about the position they are standing on and with due respect to their course instructor, they will try to change their learning style. This method benefits educators and learners by making education more relevant and easy. It also motivates students to learn more effectively because they know they will be internally assessed annually. Internal assessment increases the trust level of students in their teachers. They feel the warmth and are shadowed in the internal assessment process. If there is any slackness in the student’s result, the instructor can personally approach and guide him to his best.

Disadvantages

Sometimes instructor favours the students. They tend to give more marks to the less deserving student, while the deserving one is left behind. Therefore, this causes a dilemma in the assessment procedure. Sometimes it also happens that the instructor is not well-known about the knowledge the student has written in the exam because, in online education, students have numerous sources to study.

EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT

Unlike internal assessments, external assessments are prepared and even checked by external bodies. The criteria for checking the exam in the external assessment are based on knowledge and the pattern of attempting the paper. The external body sets some certifications or degree programs for the enrolled students. The external body sets a particular weightage to achieve those offered degree programs or certifications. If the student meets the eligibility criteria, he is good to go.

Advantages

The main advantage of external assessment is that the student is assessed based on his skill and knowledge rather than being evaluated on his understanding of the lecture. There are no set targets for the students to study, and the individual can study and gain knowledge from anywhere. The idea of external assessment is best suited to online education because students in online education tend to study from different sources and all students have their unique understandings, so they must be evaluated differently.

Disadvantage

The biggest disadvantage of external assessment is that when students see that they have to achieve the degree program or certifications, they use unfair means to give the exam. The external assessment criteria are set below par, which makes students stagnant and stuck to the point of achievement of degree programs only.

Students from different parts of the world apply to those degree programs and certifications and try to achieve them with disruptive means. Still, after the achievement of these programs, they are unable to manage their work and life. The requirements of the programs are time taking and focusing, which unfair students cannot do.

BOTTOM LINE

Although online exam help or course help services have made students’ and parents’ lives easier and more convenient, students are misusing them and taking seats of deserving students. Online education has given major opportunities to students to manage their work and life, but they are availing it of unfair activities. The assessment criteria must be changed simultaneously according to the situation. Online education is not serving all students, so there should be a proper evaluation and assessment process for each student. The student’s performance must be evaluated equally so that the educational system will be strengthened and grow.