NOVA:ea

NOVA:ea is a CATALPA project. In close cooperation with the Center for Learning and Innovation at FernUni Hagen, NOVA:ea is also an innovation project of the university.

Is it even possible to test online in a meaningful way? And how can the diversity of students be taken into account? In the NOVA:ea project, study-oriented e-assessments are implemented, scientifically accompanied and evaluated.


Project goals and research questions

The optimization of examination conditions is a central topic for universities. In this context, electronic assessments are increasingly being used instead of traditional face-to-face examinations, a trend that has been additionally driven by the Corona crisis. As part of the project, the project partners are currently conducting over 75,000 e-exams. However, the upward trend in e-assessment formats is affecting all higher education institutions in Germany. E-assessments pose a variety of didactic, diagnostic and technical challenges to universities in general and to the project partners in particular.

In the project NOVA:ea, the implementation of student-friendly e-assessments is therefore being implemented, scientifically accompanied and evaluated.

NOVA:ea aims to promote academic education in all biographical phases with student-friendly e-assessments. It places student diversity at the center of the didactic, technical and diagnostic design of e-assessments. The guiding principle is to link student-centered innovation with technological advancement, which is used as open source for e-assessment systems at more than 230 universities.

Within the framework of the project, the FernUniversität in Hagen is pursuing three central goals:

  • Classification, development, and criteria-driven selection of task formats, as well as the development of project-wide guidelines for assessment diagnostics and error analysis.
  • Empirical consideration of the role of student diversity for the didactic, technical, and psychometric design and optimization of competency-oriented and diversity-appropriate e-assessments based on the Dynexite e-assessment system.
  • Identification and consideration of the determinants of e-assessment acceptance among teachers and students as well as the design and implementation of measures to increase acceptance.

Click here for the official website of NOVEA:ea

  • Partial lead at FeU:

    Prof. Dr. Stefan Stürmer

    Partial lead at DIE:

    Prof. Dr. Hannes Schröter

  • The project is funded within the framework of the funding announcement 2020 "Strengthening Higher Education through Digitization" of the Foundation Innovation in Higher Education.

    Click here for the official website of NOVEA:ea

  • The project is conducted in cooperation with RWTH Aachen University, TH Cologne - University of Applied Sciences - and the German Institute for Adult Education - Leibniz Center for Lifelong Learning (DIE).

    External project partners:

    RWTH Aachen: Univ.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dirk Uwe Sauer
    RWTH Aachen: Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrik Schroeder
    TH Köln: Prof. Dr. habil. Ingo Stadler
    DIE: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Hannes Schröter

  • 01.08.2021 - 31.12.2025

  • 2024

    Journals

    • Lenski, S., Zinke, N., Merkt, M., Reich-Stiebert, N., Stürmer, S., & Schröter, H. (in press). Early indicators of study delay and dropout: Test anxiety and its link to exam participation and performance. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice.

    Chapters in Edited Books

    • Zinke, N., Lenski, S., Brocker, A., Merkt, M., Gropengießer, K., Stürmer, S., & Schröter, H. (2024). Towards Fair and Diversity-Appropriate E-assessments. In M. Sahin & D. Ifenthaler (Eds.), Assessment Analytics in Education: Designs, Methods and Solutions (pp. 373–394). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56365-2_19

    2023

    Talks and Poster Presentations