Navigating the digital shift: investigating the viability of digital assessments for electrical and electronic engineering students
Author(s)
Akhtar, Zohaib
Perea-Borobio, Esther
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The shift toward digital assessments in higher education, particularly in engineering, represents a major evolution in student evaluation methods. This paper investigates the viability of replacing traditional print-based exams with digital assessments in Electrical and Electronic Engineering education. Over the past six years, our department has adopted digital assessments to reduce marking loads and provide more frequent feedback. This mixed-methods study draws on semi-structured, 30-min interviews with academic staff and a detailed analysis of both quantitative and qualitative student survey responses. Lecturer interviews offer insights into how digital assessments influence teaching practices, while student data provides a complementary perspective, revealing both shared and contrasting views.
The findings suggest that digital assessments offer clear advantages, including improved efficiency, scalability, and faster feedback. However, they also pose notable challenges, particularly in maintaining academic integrity, ensuring technical reliability, and effectively assessing complex problem-solving skills. These issues highlight the need for ongoing refinement in digital assessment design, especially in developing more robust platforms and feedback mechanisms that support meaningful learning. While focussed on a single departmental case study, the results carry broader implications for engineering education and other technical disciplines adopting digital assessment models. The paper concludes with practical recommendations for improving digital assessment strategies, ensuring they not only meet administrative goals but also enhance the student learning experience and support academic rigour in engineering education.
The findings suggest that digital assessments offer clear advantages, including improved efficiency, scalability, and faster feedback. However, they also pose notable challenges, particularly in maintaining academic integrity, ensuring technical reliability, and effectively assessing complex problem-solving skills. These issues highlight the need for ongoing refinement in digital assessment design, especially in developing more robust platforms and feedback mechanisms that support meaningful learning. While focussed on a single departmental case study, the results carry broader implications for engineering education and other technical disciplines adopting digital assessment models. The paper concludes with practical recommendations for improving digital assessment strategies, ensuring they not only meet administrative goals but also enhance the student learning experience and support academic rigour in engineering education.
Date Issued
2026-06-01
Date Acceptance
2025-06-16
Citation
European Journal of Engineering Education, 2026, 51 (3), pp.714-733
ISSN
0304-3797
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Start Page
714
End Page
733
Journal / Book Title
European Journal of Engineering Education
Volume
51
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Identifier
10.1080/03043797.2025.2523549
Subjects
Digital assessments
e-assessments
engineering education
academic integrity
student engagement
feedback systems
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2025-06-25