The examination of alternative assessment methods used by EFL teacher educators in online learning environments

This research aimed to examine the alternative assessment methods employed by EFL teacher educators in online education, the digital tools and platforms utilized in the application of these assessments, and the perceptions of teacher educators regarding those assessments. Accordingly, this study employed a phenomenological research design to examine the teacher educators' perceptions of alternative assessments in online education. The study gathered qualitative data through interviews with 18 teacher educators who teach online courses in the department of English Language Teaching at various universities in Türkiye. Additionally, assessment samples from these teacher educators were collected to provide triangulation to this research. The collected qualitative data were analyzed using the content analysis method and were categorized into four distinct themes. The study's findings revealed that teacher educators displayed a higher preference towards utilizing alternative assessment methods as opposed to traditional methods in online courses, with the aim of setting an example for their students. Furthermore, teacher educators employed diverse digital tools and platforms for their alternative assessments for the sake of assessment and to provide examples to them for their future professional lives. Nonetheless, this investigation also found out that teacher educators encountered numerous challenges when implementing alternative assessments in online education, despite the numerous affordances presented by the utilization of those assessment methods and the digital tools and platforms. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that assessment in online courses poses greater challenges and collaboration among all education stakeholders is crucial in addressing these challenges. Otherwise, efforts to deliver more effective assessments and train more competent teachers are wasted due to social and economic limitations and decisions made without consulting field experts.