SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES IN AUTHENTIC ONLINE ASSESSMENTS: A CASE OF AN ODEL INSTITUTION IN ZIMBABWE

SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES IN AUTHENTIC ONLINE ASSESSMENTS: A CASE OF AN ODEL INSTITUTION IN ZIMBABWE

THOMAS MUSANKULENI KAPUTA1

FADZAI NDABAMBI

The focus of the study is on how special education lecturers can support students from different cultures in authentic online assessments for improved real learning transfer at an ODeL institution in Zimbabwe. Authentic online assessment is the latest trend using different tools like electronic portfolios, to assess learners in real life scenarios which mimic the real world. Research has shown that students’ cultural background determines how the students define assessment and how they use Information, Communication Technologies (ICTs), which are major components of the assessment process. This poses problems to third world students as the instruments used are foreign in design. A qualitative approach using an online open-ended questionnaire, interview guide and a document analysis generates the data. The sample includes special education lecturers and their students with and without disabilities, those from rural and urban areas from different cultures in the country’s ten regional campus. The major finding is that culture influences authentic online assessments. Its recommendations are that lecturers support all students by designing and using culturally sensitive authentic assessments to enable transference of learning to their communities.

Zimbabwe Open University Journal of Applied Social Sciences

2026