Assessment for learning in face-to-face and in emergency virtual teaching: a comparison of its effects on students’ basic psychological needs

Abstract

The effects of Assessment for Learning on satisfying/frustrating the Basic Psychological Needs in the context of Physical Education Teacher Education is a research area that has not received much attention. This study measures students’ Basic Psychological Needs in two consecutive cohorts (face to face and emergency virtual teaching) during a module at university that use Assessment for Learning in an autonomy supportive learning environment. The Satisfaction and Frustration of the Basic Psychological Needs Scale for Training was administered to the students. Qualitative open-ended questions were incorporated into the questionnaire to deepen on students’ opinions on the experience. The results showed high levels of BPN satisfaction plus low levels of frustration in both the face-to-face and virtual teaching. Likewise, the importance of  autonomy, structure and feedback in virtual classes was confirmed by students which supports the idea that autonomy and structure are complementary and not contradictory. It also shows how technologies in virtual teaching generated commitment and learning favoring continual feedback on tutored  work. Although this study contributes to scaling up the empirical evidence of the effects of Assessment for Learning on motivation, a lot of terrain remains to be explored on its implementation in university contexts that support psychological needs.