Assessment in open and distance education: Practices in mega universities

Tools that have been used in the process of assessing students remain limited in open and distance education in which instructors and students are physically located in different places. This limitation is more apparent in mega universities in which the number of active students is above a hundred thousand despite the fact that the developments in information and communications technologies provide opportunities regarding this issue. In this study, how to improve the assessment practices in the Central Open Education System of Anadolu University, which is one of the mega universities providing open and distance education in the world, was investigated. Firstly, tools used for assessing students were identified by examining the practices of mega universities which are similar in size with Anadolu University. Then, in the context of student-centered approach, opinions of registered students in the System were gathered regarding the current assessment practices, and other tools and techniques were identified that could be used for assessing students in the Central Open Education System, in which multiple-choice tests have been predominantly used. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered in the study in which the mixed research method was adopted. The results of the analysis of the data gathered from the mega universities through the online questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and the questionnaire applied to students revealed that assessment tools used in the Central Open Education System should be diversified, continuous assessment activities should be applied, online learning and assessment environments should be enriched and more feedback should be given to students for their learning and assessment process. Keywords: Open and Distance Education, Assessment, Assessment in Open and Distance Education, Mega Universities, Learner-Centered Instruction and Assessment