The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly led to changes in the mode of teaching, learning and assessments in most tertiary institutions worldwide. Notably, non-invigilated summative assessments became predominant. These changes heightened anxiety and depression, especially among individuals with less resilient coping mechanism. We explored the perceptions and experiences of mental health difficulties of students in tertiary education regarding non-invigilated alternative assessments in comparison to invigilated assessments. A pragmatic, mixed method cross sectional design was conducted online via Qualtrics. Thematic analysis of text was carried out using NVivo 12. In the quantitative analysis, univariable and multivariable ordinal logistic models were used to examine the potential factors for preference among students in higher education. A total of 380 Nursing and Social Science students responded to the survey. Approximately 77% of students perceived non-invigilated assessments to be less stressful compared to invigilated exams. Age, course of study, stage of studies, and number of units enrolled per semester were identified as significant drivers for students’ perceived preference for non-invigilated assessments. There was an inverse relationship between the perception of stress associated with invigilated exams and the age of students. For instance, students aged between 18-24 were 5 times more likely to prefer non-invigilated exams compared to those aged 55 or more. Comparatively, students in early stages of studies had higher preference for non-invigilated assessments. However, there was a preference reversal for students enrolled in 2 or less units per semester. Social sciences students were two times more likely to prefer non-invigilated examinations to invigilated examinations compared to nursing students. The findings reinforce the use of alternative assessments in higher education as a mitigating agency to lessen the mental health burden of tertiary students in post COVID-19 era.

COVID-19 大流行迅速导致全球大多数高等教育机构的教学、学习和评估模式发生变化。值得注意的是，非监考总结性评估成为主流。这些变化加剧了焦虑和抑郁，尤其是应对机制弹性较差的个体。我们探讨了高等教育学生对非监考替代评估与监考评估的心理健康困难的看法和经历。通过 Qualtrics 在线进行实用的混合方法横截面设计。使用NVivo 12对文本进行主题分析。在定量分析中，使用单变量和多变量序数逻辑模型来检查高等教育学生偏好的潜在因素。共有 380 名护理和社会科学专业的学生参与了这项调查。大约 77% 的学生认为，与监考考试相比，非监考考试压力较小。年龄、学习课程、学习阶段和每学期注册的学分数量被认为是学生对非监考评估偏好的重要驱动因素。监考压力感知与学生年龄之间存在反比关系。例如，与 55 岁或以上的学生相比，18 至 24 岁之间的学生更喜欢非监考考试的可能性高出 5 倍。相比之下，处于学习早期阶段的学生更倾向于非监考评估。然而，对于每学期注册 2 个或更少单元的学生，偏好发生了逆转。与护理专业的学生相比，社会科学专业的学生更喜欢非监考考试，而不是监考考试。研究结果强化了在高等教育中使用替代评估作为缓解手段，以减轻后 COVID-19 时代高等教育学生的心理健康负担。