Convergent Validity of Non-Invigilated, Formative Online Assessments in Business Mathematics Courses and Students' Comparative Performance in Online and Offline Assessments

The validity and specifically the convergent validity of a course's online assessments (i.e. the extent to which the online assessments really measure what is measured by other assessments meant to measure the constructs of the course's learning outcomes) hitherto only receive limited attention, especially for courses in the business mathematics discipline. Using the data of a business mathematics course at the author's university, this article attempts to verify the convergent validity of a series of non-invigilated, formative online assessments or equivalently to evaluate the extent to which these online assessments measure what is measured by an invigilated, summative offline assessment meant to measure the construct of the course's learning outcomes. Besides, this article aims to reveal whether the students scored more highly in these online assessments than in the offline assessment or vice versa. Findings were that such convergent validity was moderately acceptable and slightly on the high end and that students considerably scored more highly in these online assessments than in the offline assessment. Reasons suggested for the findings include students' computer anxiety, perceptions of and attitudes towards online assessments as well as some distinctive features of online assessments in mathematical courses.