**5. Material and methods**

In this study, the researchers used a qualitative research method in which the survey questionnaire was later quantified to determine the degree of the problem and the prevailing problems and challenges from the researchers' responses. Miles et al. [8] and Kuper [9] demonstrate the importance of using a qualitative data collection approach in the social sciences extremely effectively for the study of areas such as education, sociology, and anthropology. Most significantly, the use of this approach has increased in the health professions and education sectors. This method was used to obtain descriptive and empirical data from participants [10]. This included frequency counts and percentages to identify the most common perspectives and challenges related to the questions. The researchers used a purposive sampling technique as the participants were interested in interest of the researchers' criteria as they used technological devices and navigated the online space during the hard lockdown period. The sample included a total of ten (10) STEM lecturers from different departments of the Faculty of Science, Engineering, and Agriculture and four (4) e-learning practitioners from the rural university in Limpopo Province, all of whom were scheduled to participate in the study, by first signing the ethical review consent form and later completing the questionnaire and narratives.

However, only ten (10) academics and four (4) e-learning practitioners from the entire population of science lecturers responded to the questionnaire. This survey aimed to assess lecturers' experiences with digital assessments while enabling online lectures on various platforms. The data collected for this study were analyzed using thematic coding and descriptive statistics, with researchers carefully going through responses to classify the data by themes and academics' perspectives on the use of technology beyond the COVID-19 era in higher education institutions among the students from rural areas to better understand the challenges encountered with respect to online education. The researchers analyzed publicly available data, and surveys and interviewed lecturers and e-learning practitioners from rural universities in the South African higher education sector to large public flagship universities.

*Evaluating STEM Lecturers' Experiences with Digital Assessments and Continuity of Digital… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113259*
