Online assessment for learning in higher education: Impact of feedback on students' outcomes

Recent research, which is interested in ensuring the quality of Higher Education, strongly emphasizes the necessity of introducing changes in the traditional way of performing assessment during the didactic activity. Because we are convinced about its importance, this study aims to analyze the impact of feedback on an online evaluation system that is designed from a formative perspective to promote and improve the learning process of university students. The intervention was carried out during two consecutive academic courses with 90 undergraduate and master engineering students from the Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineering of the University of La Rioja. The performed analyses point to a positive effect of the proposed online system, both in student performance and in their degree of satisfaction with the assessment and feedback provided. It could be concluded that the designed assessment and feedback system provides information that helps students to identify their weaknesses and to improve their own qualification.