Mobile-based assessment: A literature review of publications in major referred journals from 2009 to 2018

Highlights

• Mobile assessment studies are popular in elementary schools for Science subjects.

• Most studies reported positive impact on learning performance and student attitudes.

• Studies reported a positive impact on learning motivation.

• More research is needed to investigate motivation related to mobile assessment.

• More research is needed to investigate negative perceptions towards mobile assessment.

Abstract

Mobile devices not only provide a medium for delivering personalized and context-aware learning but also facilitate the delivery of assessment activities anytime and anywhere. With the growing adoption of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) practices in education, Mobile-Based Assessment (MBA) is an emerging field in the context of mobile learning research. Although a considerable number of literature reviews exists about mobile learning, there is no such review study to provide insight into mobile-based assessment. The current study is a review of forty-three (43) articles about mobile-based assessment published in seven major educational technology research journals from January 2009 to February 2018. Major findings include that most mobile-based assessment studies focused on formative assessments with elementary students and in STEM subjects. Most of the reviewed articles reported a significant positive impact on student learning performance, motivation and attitudes. Moreover, the study identified several gaps in the mobile assessment literature. More research is needed to investigate issues and concerns related to negative perceptions against mobile assessment, especially form the teachers’ point of view. Also, a stronger alignment needs to be developed between student motivation and different mobile-based assessment practices. The study can be a valuable reference for educators and researchers working in the field of mobile-based assessment.

Introduction

With the rapid growth of mobile technologies and the extensive usage of mobile devices, there is a continuously increasing adoption of mobile learning in both formal and informal educational settings. Moreover, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies are gaining popularity in both learning and working environments (Adams Becker et al., 2017). Mobile technologies provide new and enhanced learning opportunities, such as personalization and adaptivity, context-awareness and ubiquity, interactivity, communication and collaboration among learners, and seamless bridging between contexts in both formal and informal learning (Sung, Chang, & Liu, 2016; West & Vosloo, 2013).

There exist a large number of literature review studies about mobile-based learning. Most of these studies feature positive outcomes (Chee, Yahaya, Ibrahim, & Noor Hassan, 2017; Wu et al., 2012). Sung et al. (2016) found that mobile devices such as laptops, personal digital assistants, and mobile phones are a learning tool with great potential in both classrooms and outdoor learning. Chiang et al. (2016) provided a content analysis of mobile learning patents in selected databases from 1976 to 2013. Common mobile learning patents characteristics were found to be multi-presentation, supporting seamless learning, adopting learner analysis, improving learner diversity and context awareness. Hwang and Wu (2014) reported that mobile learning is promising in improving students’ learning achievements, motivations and interests.

Mobile devices not only provide a time- and location-independent medium for delivering personalized and context-aware learning content but also facilitate Mobile-Based Assessment (MBA), a new delivery mode of assessment with the use of mobile devices. While many MBA implementations exist in the related literature, to the best of our knowledge, no review study exists to provide an overview of the current status in the research about Mobile-Based Assessment (MBA).

The current review has two objectives. The first objective is to provide a current synthesis of Mobile-Based Assessment research addressing relevant features. This objective is approached by addressing the following research question R1.

• In studies involving mobile-based assessments, what are the journal and year of publication of the articles, age and education level of the participating subjects, country context, learning domain, assessment types and supported technologies, research design and research purpose?

The second objective is to investigate the impact that MBA has on students’ learning performance, motivation and attitudes. This objective is approached by addressing the following research questions R2, R3, and R4.

• What is the impact of mobile-based assessment on student learning performance?

• What is the impact of mobile-based assessment on student learning motivation?

• What are students' and/or teachers' attitudes and perceptions about mobile-based assessment?

The authors conducted a literature search in seven major educational technology research journals and identified 43 relevant articles published from January 2009 to February 2018. These articles have been analyzed according to the aforementioned set of research questions.

The review study is organized as follows. First, a background section draws on mobile-based assessment, existing mobile learning reviews and the rationale for a mobile-assisted assessment literature review study. Then, the methodology section follows with the inclusion and exclusion criteria, search strategy, study selection and analysis framework and coding. Study results along with discussions and study limitations come afterwards. Next, identified gaps in the literature with potential future research are presented. Finally, there is the conclusions section that summarizes the study discussions strengthening the contribution of the study.