A case study in eastern Indonesia for the development of integrated real-time performance assessment on science practicum in universities

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to collect preliminary data for the design of real-time and integrated performance assessments in science practicum at two public universities and two private universities in Eastern Indonesia. The case study design and quantitative and qualitative approaches were adopted in this study. Cluster random sampling technique was used to select four universities, 376 participants respectively from university students and lecturers, four vice deans, four heads of study programs, four heads of laboratories, and four teaching assistants. Data were gathered through questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and observations. The chi-square test was used to analyze the data descriptively. Findings indicated that a performance assessment was not carried out since standard measurement instruments that provided real-time and integrated feedback had not been developed. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between public and private universities on the science practicum assessment, implying that both public and private universities still used paper-based practicum assessments. There was also no significant difference between the responses of university students and lecturers on practicum performance assessments (p > 0.05). University students’ experience in assessing science practicums was similar to those of lecturers’, which suggests that practicum of performance assessments was not real-time and integrated with feedback. This study recommends developing a real-time and integrated performance assessment with automated feedback on the science practicum, in order to provide continuous improvement of students and monitoring their learning progress.