Best Summative Assessment Project Award

Mercer Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai founded in 2004 is one of the premier B-schools in India. Great Lakes has proactively pioneered several innovations, such as embracing mobile-technology-enabled blended and online learning, making high-quality management education available to learners across the gamut. The management also incorporated a learning management system (LMS) to administer in-class online tests, assessing that the pen-and-paper assessment process may need a technical overhaul in the future. However despite their forward thinking and actions in developing an LMS to support their innovations, the system didn’t allow for online proctoring or the integration of proctoring technology, therefor limiting the Schools ability to conduct online exams in a fully virtual environment. In order to drive forward with their innovation plans, Great Lakes sought an online examination platform that ensured exam integrity, fairness and transparency. Mercer’s team worked with Great Lakes to understand their needs and provide a solution that supported their innovative journey to online examinations. This partnership allowed over 400 students to complete their final year exams with integrity and ease in a familiar environment which eliminated some anxieties associated with exams. The partnership also lead to further adoption of the technology for end-of-semester exams and mid-term tests.

Ulster University This submission claims how an online weekly blog posting e-assessment improved the assessment process in a masters’ programme by making it accessible, reliable, valid, and inclusive. Ulster University (UU) is a civic university in Northern Ireland (NI). Inclusion is its core value. Widening participation is its ambition. UU attracts students from across NI, where almost a quarter of a million working-age adults are disabled. NI has 25% higher rates of anxiety and depression among adults in comparison to other UK nations (OSR, 2021). MSc Human Resource Management (HRM) is a popular course, and its students are therefore increasingly diverse. Mature adult partitioners who work as HR officers in local organisations attend this course. As experts by experience (of doing HRM) but new to formal education, most students experience high level anxiety and stress when completing traditional assignments such as essays and exams. They feel inadequate and less confident in reaching their full potential. The redesigned, weekly blog posting assessment gave all students, specifically to those with autism and ADHD, an opportunity to flourish, and achieve good grades. Evaluations consistently show evidence of new knowledge acquisition, higher marks development of original ideas, and inclusive ‘communities of practitioner-learners’.