CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT AS A PREDICTOR
OF BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, IKERE
EKITI
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The prominent method of assessing
student’s progress formerly was through terminal examination. The assessment
was based on knowledge acquired on various subjects of the school curriculum
for the year. During those periods assessment related to affective and
psychomotor domains were neglected while the various assessment carried out
then were done on cognitive domain alone. However, with the introduction of the
6-3-3-4 system of education which calls for continuous assessment as a means of
measuring students’ performance was to make assessment of learners more
reliable, valid, objective and comprehensive.
Understanding the concept of
Continuous Assessment makes implementation easier. It means a summative “Mark”
or score added to the final examination to certify students; some believe it to
be a diagnostic and formulative evaluation of student’s learning (Ango, 2007).
According to Nitko (2014) Assessment is the process of gathering information
for the purpose of making decisions about education policy, curriculum
programme and about individual students learning. It refers to the process of
gathering relevant information F.M.E. (2014) pointed out that continuous
Assessment is the mechanism whereby final grading of students in the cognitive
affective and psychomotor domains of behaviors systematically take account of
all performance during a given period of schooling. Such an assessment involves
the use of a great variety of models of evaluation for the purpose of guiding
and improving the performance of students.
Assessment is however, a means to an
end not an end in itself as it equips the students with the required impetus to
success. It serves several purposes particularly in decision making whether at
primary, secondary or tertiary level (Ijaya, 2012). Assessment refers to the
systematic collection of data and gives information about individual (Okwudire,
2005). Hassan (2005) reported that continuous assessment is a systematic
collection of marks or grades over a period of time and its aggregation into a
final grade. Hassan’s view gives the classroom lecturer the scope to make use
of variety of assessment techniques appropriate to the subject being offered by
the student. Such procedures includes practical’s, project and fieldwork. All
these have their place in the scheme of continuous assessment as grades and
marks will be awarded on the basis of achievement in each of the methods used
for determine the student’s performance. Andrew (2000) viewed continuous
assessments as a means of indicating the progress of maturation of the student
but it is also used especially for detecting problems. It is therefore, in the
interest of the lecturer to administer some form of assessment on a continuous
basis on his students to evenly cover the material he is teaching. Danjuma (2014)
in his study examined the extent of reliability of continuous assessment as a
predictor of student performance in end of semester examination. The results
revealed a significant relationship when the student scores from continuous
assessment were correlated with their examination marks. Similarly, when
continuous assessment scores of those with average scores were correlated with
the examination scores, there was a significant relationship.
Continuous Assessment is therefore a
way of obtaining the most value assessment of the capabilities of a student.
This is because it is aggregate of all the achievement of a student from the
beginning of the course to the end of it, which determines the final
achievement.
A number of studies have been
conducted on performance in the introductory business education course, for
example, Eskew and Faley (2008) found five measures associated with performance
in the first College Level Business education Course. A positive relationship
to performance was found for SAT Scores, High School Math and English Grades,
Collegiate GPA, The number of voluntary Quizzes taken (a measure of motivation)
and Previous exposure to a course in book keeping or business education. Their
model explained about 30 percent of the variation in course performance. They
also reported that the number of semester hours of mathematics and statistics
preceding the business education course was not significantly associated with
course performance. Doran, Bouillon and Smith (2011) found a positive and
significant relationship between course performance and the following variable
(listed in order of highest variance expanded to lowest variance explained):
Cumulative grade point average standardized academic text scores (SATs)
declaration as an business education major male, and high school book-keeping
course. Elaine and Musa (2005) carried out a study to determine students’
performance in intermediate business education at Perdue University Calumet,
Indiana. The study examined the relationship of specific business education
achievement in the recent past to performance in intermediate business
education. Findings from the study revealed that Cumulative Grade Point Average
(CGPA) and scores on Diagnostic Assessment are mostly correlated with the final
grade in intermediate business education I.
Kenni (2011) opined that educational
assessment has been identified to be an integral and inseparable part of a
sound educational system. Assessment data forms the basis upon which vital
educational decisions about teaching, learning, educational programme and
learning environment are made. Kenni (2011) further affirms that Continuous
Assessment is a mechanism whereby the final score of a student in the
cognitive, effective and psychomotor domains of leaning systematically takes
accounts of all his/her performance during a period of schooling. The
penultimate examination at the end of semester at college level of education
under the old educational programme of 6-3-2-3 system was named “semester
Examination” because it was usually used to assess the likely performance of
the students in the semester examination. However, it was not used as part of
the overall assessment of the student at the college level. Adeyeye and
Ilugbusi as cited by Kenni (2011) that since the introduction of the 6-3-3-4
system, the Continuous Assessment, in particular has been integrated as part of
the overall college results for each student. Ojerinde (2014) stressed the need
to integrate the behaviour of school-based scores sent to examination bodies
into the results of schools and also recalled that the Nigerian policy on
Education (2014) stipulates the use of school-based scores as a component of
certification.
Studies have shown that one of the
variables affecting learning in general and science learning in particular is
gender, it is necessary to investigate the interrelationship between gender and
science learning. Researches have revealed that women are not only under-represented
in business education, but their levels of academic achievement in business
education are low compared to men (Ishaya, 2003 and National Science
Foundation, 2008). In predicting academic performance, what a learner knows
will play a large part in determining what sense they can make of new
information. The extent of relevant previous knowledge is a major factor in
determining the achievement of learners in a particular subject or course.
Learners build their own knowledge in an idiosyncratic way, using past
experience and existing knowledge to make sense of new information. Since no
two learners have the same knowledge and experience, different learners deal
with all new information in different ways (Adebayo, 2012). Peers and Johnston
in Adeyemi (2003) argue that a prediction of a future examination result could
be made on the bases of the results of an earlier examination. However, despite
all these research efforts to solve this problem, there still little or no
improvement in the students’ performance in business education. There is need
to carry out a study with a view to determining the selected variable
(Continuous Assessment) could be used to predict student academic performance
in College.
Statement of the Problem
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Purpose of Study
The
major purpose of the study is to investigate continuous assessment as a predictor of Business Education students’
performance in College of Education, Ikere Ekiti
Specifically
the subject will seek to:
(1)
Find out the
performance level of the students continuous assessment in business education
courses.
(2)
Find out the
performance level of students in final examination scores in business education
courses.
(3)
Find out the
relationship between continuous assessment and the performance of students in business
education courses in department of business education, college of education, Ikere
Ekiti.
Research Questions
The following questions directed
the study:
(1)
What is the level
of performance of student in continuous assessment business education?
(2)
What is the level
of performance of student in final semester examination in business education
courses?
(3)
What is the
relationship between continuous assessment and the performance of students in
business education courses in business education department in
college of education, Ikere Ekiti?
Research Hypotheses
HO1: There is no
significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of male and female
business education student in continuous assessment.
HO2: There is no
significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of male and female
business education student in final semester examination scores.
HO3: There is no
significant relationship between the performance of students in continuous
assessment and final semester examination scores in business education courses.
Significance of the Study
The
findings of this study will be of benefit to academic staff union, principals
officer in college of education, Ekiti state, lecturer and students of business
education as a course in Ekiti State. The study will provide information to the
academic staff union of Ekiti State about the relationship between the
Continuous assessment and student performance business education. The
commission could use the information to organize a seminar for business
education lecturers for re-training in areas where they are deficiency.
The
findings of the study will provide information to the head of department in college
of educations about area of teaching Business education where their lecturer
needs more orientations and where student need motivation. This could help them
to encourage their lecturer to attend seminars, workshop and long vacation
courses for building their capacity. The deans could also organize a lecture
time for students to encourage them for their performance in future.
The
study will provide beneficial information to Business education lecturers in
Ekiti State. This information will help them to seek for avenues to improve
their knowledge in the subject by looking for study leave with pay approval
sponsor in order to go for retraining. The
findings of the study will be of benefit to Business education students in
Ekiti State. When they discover the areas of weakness they would be encourage
to work and in order to have better grades in Business education and to
maintain consistency in their Continuous Assessment and final semester
examination scores.
Delimitation or Scope of the Study
The
study is restricted to the relationship between continuous assessment and
student performance in Business education courses. It covered the department of
business education in college of education, Ikere – Ekiti. Also the study will
look into the immediate past of continuous assessment and final semester
examination in business education courses for comparison. Information will be collected from the head
of department in business education, college of education, Ikere Ekiti, school
record officers and examiners and the business education lecturers in the
department.
