Asynchronous Online Assessment of Physical Chemistry Concepts in the Time of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has disrupted normal activities all over the world. Education at all levels has been particularly hard hit, and this has resulted in the suspension of face-to-face discourse, instruction, and student assessment worldwide, with the necessity of social distancing preventing the social gatherings common to all learning environments. This has prompted a shift to online modes of teaching and assessment, with varying degrees of success and possibly much discomfort. In this communication, reflections and comments on the results of asynchronous online assessment of physical chemistry courses at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies are presented. We hope this paper will be useful in delineating some of the challenges faced in the delivery of unsupervised online assessments, especially in situations where limited internet connectivity may disadvantage some students.