The Relationship between Continuous Assessment Scores and Examination Scores of Students Motivated to Attend Lectures

Abstract

A prominent feature in the pursuance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the learning process in education is the evaluation and assessment of students. As part of the process of evaluating students’ learning outcomes, effective practice of cont inuous assessment is considered capable of influencing other factors that affect the improvement of teaching and learning. We used a strategy of continuous assessment to teach four Basic Science and Technology courses to minimize observed absenteeism to lectures, improve the active participation of students, and enhance learning during lectures. This study aims to find the relationship between the continuous assessment scores and the examination scores of students in the courses using a descriptive/correlational research design. The sample consists of all the students totaling 2,214 who were examined in the courses for three sessions 2010/2011, 2011/2012, and 2012/2013 in the College of Education, Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria. Their examination scores were correlated with the corresponding continuous assessment scores using Pearson’s product-moment correlation procedure for each of the courses in each academic session. All the correlation coefficients obtained are positive and statistically significant at .05% level, indicating a consistent and significant positive relationship between the continuous assessment scores and the examination scores for each of the courses, each academic session, and the overall sample. Based on this result, we encourage the use of continuous assessment in more pragmatic ways to enhance both the cognitive and non- cognitive correlates of students’ performance in courses in tertiary institutions.