ONLINE EXAMINATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: LEARNERS’ PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

This study aims at exploring the acceptance of online examinations on the part of English-majored students of the School of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University (SFL-TNU) during the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. An online questionnaire survey of 110 English-majored students elicited their perceptions of the usefulness of online examinations in terms of pedagogy, validity, reliability, affective factors, practicality and security. The results show that online exams were perceived to have significant benefits over traditional, paper-based exams, including appropriateness; stress and anxiety reduction; reliability of scoring; long-term efficiency in time, effort, travelling and costs; and security. Conversely, participants identified many challenges facing the successful implementation of online exams regarding immediate feedback, cheating and plagiarism issues. The findings also indicate that the successful implementation of online exams can be achieved by providing more detailed and immediate feedback, ensuring security and designing the banks of validated questions. Besides, it is also very necessary for the institutions to provide support for the students during the process of implementing online exams.