Synergy between Formative Feedback and Leaner Support: Enhancing E-Learning and Validity of Online Assessment in Higher Education

Joyce W. Gikandi
Department of Educational Management and Curriculum Studies
Mount Kenya University, Kenya
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8531-6212
Email: jwgikandi@mku.ac.ke

Abstract: This paper is a systematic review that focuses on analysis and interpretation of related literature with an aim to enhance understanding of how convergence of formative feedback and leaner support enhances e-learning. In particular, the review sought to establish how convergence of formative feedback and adequate learner support as part of embedded online assessment that can contribute to meaningful experiences in e-learning. This focus aligns with the need to reconsider the core issues that undermine validity of assessment in online contexts with the aim to achieve the needs of competence-based learning in higher education. This review offers the distinction between validity within the context of assessment for learning and assessment of learning. Specifically, the paper exemplifies two of the key characteristics of validity of assessment namely, interactive formative feedback and learners’ support within in e-learning contexts. Based on a unified conception of validity, this paper illuminates how integration of interactive formative feedback and learner support converge to enhance assessment for learning in e-learning.