Assessment in online education: focus on score reporting

Abstract

This article discusses score reporting in the context of computer-based assessment, especially online language testing in academic environments. Score reporting, understood as the communication of information about test results, is presented as an essential element of operational test use, which is a component of the process of test development. The article gives some consideration to the calculation of two types of final results, i.e. arithmetic and weighted mean scores, and outlines an online testing system, WebClass, where such results are obtained and reported automatically. Moreover, examples are given of several score reports, such as individual singletest reports and cumulative reports (summarising the results of all assessments) for students, as well as cumulative group reports and reports summarising the results of a selected test for teachers. Thanks to technology, score reports can be automatically updated as soon as new responses are submitted by test takers.