Vol. 4 No. 7/8 (2011): Evaluering og eksamen i en digital verden / Assessment and exams in a digital world

Editor: Rasmus Blok, Aarhus Universitet
Editor: Marie Gottlieb, IT-Universitetet.

Evaluation and examinations have always been core components of higher education and have garnered increasing interest in the past decade, both in terms of their role and function. There has been a general debate about the purpose of evaluation and examinations and for whom they are most beneficial, as well as a more specific debate about how and to what extent we assess students, including how assessment methods are aligned with students' learning processes. On one hand, there is an argument that evaluation and examinations should be used more actively (formatively) as part of students' learning processes, and on the other hand, there is a view that evaluation and examinations should primarily serve as control mechanisms for the educational institution that awards degrees. In recent times, political demands for increased enrollment of students, as well as the general digitization of higher education, have once again intensified the focus on this area and rekindled the debate about goals, alignment, and the role of evaluations and examinations.

How can evaluation and examination, as well as the surrounding processes, be best transformed for the digital age of students and adapted to higher education? And how can we (and should we) protect examinations and students from the new opportunities for cheating that arise with the increasing use of new technology?