Pathology of Formative Assessment In Iranian E-Learning System: Phenomenological Examination of Professors' Views

One of the most important processes in any type of educational system, especially e-learning system, is the assessment process, the purpose of which is to determine if educational goals have been achieved. Assessment is important in that it has a huge impact on learning (Buyukkarci & Sahinkarakas, 2021) and requires feedback for continuous improvement. Assessment in e-learning can be both formative and summative, or combined (Kear et al., 2016; Dlab, Katic & Candrlic, 2015; Snae, Brueckner, & Hirata, 2008). Marriott (2009) uses the terms "assessment of learning" and "assessment for learning " to distinguish between these two types of e-assessment. While the former emphasizes assessment at the end of the learning process (summative assessment) which aims to determine the amount of learning by the learner (Torres, 2019; Kear et al., 2016; Azmi & Kankarej, 2015), while the latter, being gradual and ongoing, refers to the continuous process of assessment (formative assessment) (Yan et al, 2021; Azmi & Kankarej, 2015). Formative assessment is one of the measures to promote learning (Ferreira, Martinsone & Talić, 2020; Elson, 2016; Bijol, Byrne-Dugan, & Hoenig, 2015) and to ensure the quality of distance learning and e-learning (Ming-Li & Dan, 2010). Through providing feedback on performance, it can also dramatically affect motivation, interest, commitment, intellectual challenge, and autonomy, and responsibility as well (Buyukkarci & Sahinkarakas, 2021; Bhattacharya & Coombs, 2017; Townsend & Mulvey, 2016).
According to the above, in order to ensure the students' learning and achieve the desired goals, measurement and assessment are necessary, and what is important in the assessment of learners in e-learning is to have the approach of "assessment for learning" or formative assessment. Because the purpose of formative assessment is to correct and improve the existing situation. This means that in the process of formative assessment, one can recognize the weak and strong points and make decisions based on them. E-learning in the field of assessment, especially formative assessment, has not progressed as expected and little attention has been paid to the importance of assessment in this field, and this has caused damage in this field that may affect the quality of learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pathology of formative assessment in the Iranian e-learning system. The method of this research was applied in terms of purpose and qualitative in terms of how to collect information. The research paradigm was also interpretive. According to this paradigm, reality is conditioned by human experience and interpretation. The research methods in this perspective include case study, phenomenology, ethnography and historical research (Bazargan, 2015). In this study, the phenomenological method was used. The phenomenology method is one of the qualitative research methods that investigates the views, feelings, and experiences of the sample group in relation to a certain phenomenon or phenomena (Creswell, 2014). Since the professors of e-learning centers have the most connection with the learning management system and use it continuously, these people have more and better knowledge about the learning management system. Therefore, participants in the study included professors of e-learning centers, 13 of whom were selected as the research sample using the available purposive sampling method. In purposive sampling, the researcher continues the work until reaches theoretical saturation. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. According to Guba & Lincoln (1982), validity and reliability verification in qualitative research includes four criteria of credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability. In the current research, validity and reliability were checked based on these four criteria. Content analysis was also used to analyze the data.
Findings showed that according to the professors of e-learning centers, formative assessment in the Iranian e-learning system has 8 main weaknesses, which are: Non-use of different formative assessment tools (Consist of: Limitation of assessment methods and tools, Time consuming questions and answers, Limiting the assessment to the final assessment), Weakness in feedback (Consist of: Failure to provide appropriate feedback by professors, Failure to provide appropriate feedback by students, Failure to provide timely feedback, Not allocating enough time by professors for feedback, Lengthening the feedback process), Impossibility of student authentication (Consist of: Not knowing the participants), Weakness in class presentations (Consist of: Time limit in reviewing class presentations, Lack of two-way interactions in class presentations), Poor design of exercises and projects (Consist of: Buy projects and articles, Failure to provide enough exercises by professors), Weakness in online exams (Consist of: Little use of online tests, The possibility of cheating in online tests, Lack of control over online tests, Failure to measure all levels of learning, Failure to use the facilities of the learning management system in the field of online exams, The lack of different online test design software in the learning management system), Weakness in discussion and exchange (Consist of: Non-participation of all students in discussions, Non-continuous participation of professors in discussions, Lack of discussion management, Not summarizing the discussions, Not using different media in discussions, Failure to measure students' participation in discussions), Weak reporting (Consist of: Failure to report properly, Impossibility of recording and reporting all assessments). Therefore, in order to improve the quality of formative assessment and student learning, these weaknesses should be considered and steps should be taken to improve the current situation.
In this regard, the following suggestions have been made to improve the state of formative assessment in the electronic learning management systems of the country:

Considering the technological advances and also conducting such researches that are carried out in the country, it is suggested that e-learning centers and universities always pay attention to updating their learning management systems, especially in the field of formative assessment.
Some of the weaknesses of learning management systems in the field of formative assessment are related to professors. Therefore, for the correct implementation of formative assessment in electronic environments, the necessary training in the form of seminars, workshops, etc. should be provided to the professors.
It is suggested that universities and e-learning centers pay attention to formative assessment as an important factor in the development of learners and professors and provide the necessary grounds for its establishment as best as possible.