According to a report, universities are planning to discontinue traditional examinations after the pandemic and instead use more online assessments.
Some vice-chancellors are keen to expand and continue digital lectures, tests and tutorials even though Covid rules have been lifted.
Students could receive ‘alternating’ online and in-person lectures and ‘wholly online modules’ alongside face-to-face elements in future.
A report shows that universities plan to abandon traditional exams in favor of online assessment.
The move is likely to anger undergraduates who are paying £9,250-a-year this term for online and in-person teaching.
Universities UK, the umbrella group for vice-chancellors, held discussions with 13 member institutions about ‘plans to permanently change teaching’ and assessments which do ‘not have to happen in an exam hall’.
The unnamed universities have already begun to consider how they can incorporate these measures from the previous academic year.
The report said students had experienced new learning methods and ‘less assessment anxiety’ in lockdown as exams were axed.
But Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said: ‘It’s betraying students who are at the receiving end. Face-to-face teaching will always beat online.’
The UUK report states that in-person examinations were impossible during lockdown. Accordingly, open book exams, quizzes, and digital portfolios are now possible.
Some vice-chancellors would like to keep expanding digital tutorials, lectures, and tests despite Covid’s lifting
Staff reported focusing more on supporting students’ learning, such as designing tasks with real-world and workplace scenarios ‘instead of exercises in memory’ as is the case with traditional exams.
The ‘forced move away from traditional exams’ also had mental health benefits.
The report, Lessons from the pandemic: making the most of technologies in teaching, says: ‘Students have reported less assessment anxiety and there has been a greater recognition of different strengths and approaches to learning.
‘All the institutions we talked to reported planning a permanent move away from traditional exams and using online assessments more.’
Blended learning – using both online and in-person teaching – is ‘where much of the sector is now looking’.
The document adds: ‘Work is being done to consider how blended learning can be used in different subject areas, where in-person elements are most needed, and what is more suited to digital formats.
‘For some institutions, the move of traditional in-person lectures – where the focus is more instruction than interaction – to online lectures is being considered to free up timetables for more in-person tutorials.
The report said students had experienced new learning methods and ‘less assessment anxiety’ in lockdown as exams were axed
‘For others, they are considering a mix of online and in-person lectures, alternating, to suit different learner preferences, or alternatively considering some wholly online modules and some wholly onsite modules for students to choose between.
‘Different approaches will be appropriate for different subjects.’
Some universities are also considering ‘hybrid learning’, whereby lectures can be attended ‘in person or viewed via a live stream’.
‘A student can decide on the day which option will work best for them without missing out on attending at the same time as their peers,’ the report says.
Online careers fairs will continue, along with virtual open days to ‘cut the expense faced by prospective students to visit campuses and make them more accessible’.
Spaces that are freed by online education may be reconfigured to make them more accessible for studying and meeting.
Dr Peter Bonfield, vice-chancellor and president of the University of Westminster, who chaired the UUK roundtables, said digital learning has benefits for student groups ‘that need to be considered and included alongside those offered by in-person education’.
He said: ‘Whilst we almost all love and enjoy working and studying as physical communities together on campus, it is important that the advantages of digital delivery alongside face-to-face delivery are not lost and are implemented to further improve the student experience and the quality of education offered to them.
‘The sector needs to, and will continue to, develop blended learning options because it is clearly in the interests of students to do so.’