Assessing at a distance: Formative assessment in Indonesian EFL higher education

This study is intended to examine the practices of Remote Formative Assessment (RFA) employed by English language lecturers during online teaching sessions. This study used a qualitative case study approach involving 15 lecturers from three state universities located in Aceh Province, Indonesia: Universitas Syiah Kuala, Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry, and Universitas Samudera. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews and digital artifact analysis, and the information was examined through thematic analysis. The study identified five prominent practices in the implementation of RFA: (1) adapting assessment activities to digital platforms, (2) providing timely and constructive feedback, (3) monitoring students’ learning progress, (4) facilitating collaborative learning, and (5) utilizing multimodal assessment tools. These practices illustrate how lecturers combine numerous digital platforms to maintain formative assessment principles in remote learning. The study highlights the pedagogical implications of RFA for supporting continuous feedback, learner engagement, and adaptive assessment in English language learning in Indonesian higher education.