ABSTRACT
This work sought to investigate the effect of
continuous assessment in Teaching and Learning of Economic in Enugu south local
government area of Enugu state. The researcher formulated four purposes of the
study and four research questions that guided the study. Survey research design
was used, the instrument used to obtain information was a structured
questionnaire, the data collected were analyzed using mean. The population of
the study is nine thousand, eight hundred and twenty one (9821) students and simple random sampling
technique was used to select the sample. The instrument used was validated by
two experts in measurement and evaluation. Test re-test was used to determine
the reliability of the instrument and the result was 0.75. Mean statistics was
used to answer the research questions. It was found that continuous assessment
is an effective tools used in determine the performance of student in economic.
based on these finding and many more the following Recommendation were made and
it was recommended that; The ministry of Education or its relevant agencies
should organize seminars and workshop for Economics teachers at least once in a
term in order to update their knowledge on the practice of continuous
assessment, The Ministry of Education or its relevant agencies should train and
post enough professional guidance counselors in the area of to schools in the zone, Secondary schools in the zone should set up continuous
assessment committees to perform the duties currently performed by Examination
committee. Such duties include: Oversee
the keeping of various assessment records, Develop time-table for assessment of
pupils in the school. The committee is
to be headed by the vice-principal (academics); members to include, the school
guidance counselor, Head of social science section, Head of science Education
sections, Trained officers from the Ministry of Education should visit schools
in the zone from time to time for on the spot assessment of the scheme, The
ministry of Education should grant study leave with pay to all qualified tutorial staff members to study statistics
and computer in higher institutions to enable them acquire knowledge and
improve on their efficiency in data collection and analysis involved in the
practice of continuous assessment.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background to the Study
One major innovation in our educational system is
the introduction of continuous assessment as an important component for
evaluation. Educational assessment and evaluation will be liberalized by basing
them in whole or in part on continuous assessment of the progress of the
individual. In all secondary schools,
continuous assessment account for 40 percent of the pupils’ performance in each
subject. Most higher institutions of learning allow between 20 and 30 percent
in course assessment Alex (2010).
Thus,
in all institution of learning; assessment is not a new concept in education.
In the United States for instance, continuous assessment is built into the
teaching- learning process. In Nigeria, there are different views about the
concept to the extent that some of them are misconceptions. In order to understand
this concept, it is necessary to clarify these misconceptions. Continuous assessment is not continuous
testing of the cognitive ability of students as practice in most of our secondary
and secondary schools these days. For
instance, what is practiced in many schools is continuous testing; where
teachers administer test on students on weekly or monthly basis. Some schools
set aside specific days in the month for what is referred to as continuous
assessment scores for the term or year. The mode of interpretation does not
take into consideration other factors that may affect the student and the
learning process. Furthermore, the effective and psychomotor domains are
neglected. Thus, the implementation of continuous assessment seems to have
derailed from the mode of operation.
Greaney
(2011) defines assessment as any procedure or activity that is designed to
collect information about the knowledge, attitude, or skills of the learner or
group of learners. Assessment is therefore a process through which the quality
of an individual’s work or performance is judged. When carried out as an
on-going process, assessment is known a Continuous Assessment (CA). CA is a
formative evaluation procedure concerned with finding out, in a systematic
manner, the over-all gains that a student has made in terms of knowledge,
attitude and skills after a given set of learning experience (Ogunnyi, 2014).
According
to Aggarwal (2010), Continuous assessment (CA) is not simply continuous
testing. Continuous assessment doest not solely depend on formal tests.
Continuous assessment is more than giving a test; it involves every decision
made by the teacher in class to improve students’ achievement. Continuous
assessment may take different forms such as formal questions given to students
during class, take-home assignments/exercises and recapitulation exercises.
Assessment is either internal or external. Internal assessment refers to
school-based assessment, which includes class assignments, teacher-made tests,
recap exercise, projects, field stEnugu south es and all these tools form part
of the classroom continuous assessment strategies. A continuous assessment
strategy refers to the different tools/procedures used in the classroom to
understand the academic achievement levels of learners in terms of their knowledge,
attitudes and values. Also a strategy in assessment is a purposefully conceived
and determined plan of action. It is a pattern of assessment that seems to
attain certain outcomes and to guard against other (Aggarwal, 2009). External
assessment refers to tests that are produced by examining bodies away from
school.
In
order to evaluation the new educational system, one policy that cuts across all
educational levels throughout Nigeria is that on continuous assessment. In
section 1 of the National Policy on Education (revised 2011), which deals with
the philosophy and goals of education in Nigeria, paragraph 9(g) states that
“educational assessment and evaluation shall be liberalized by their being
based in whole or in part on continuous assessment of the progress of the
individual”. This statement is well amplified in subsequent sections of the
documents dealing with secondary Education (section 4), Secondary Education
(section 5), and Tertiary Education and finally in section 12 which deals with
the Planning, Administration and Supervision of Education. The repeated
emphasis being placed on continuous assessment is a clear evidence of its
importance. The National Steering Committee on Continuous Assessment in Nigeria
schools led by Professor Yoloye regards Continuous Assessment as a method of
ascertaining what a child gains from schooling in terms of knowledge, industry
and character development, taking into account all his/her performances in
tests, assignments, projects and other educational activities during a given
period of term, year, or during the entire period of an educational level
(Ipaye, 2012). It is also a method of using the recorded performances of each
pupil to help him or her improve on his or her achievement through guidance.
According to Ezewu and Okoye (2011), continuous assessment refers to a
systematic and objective process of determining the extent of a student’s
performance in all the expected changes in his behavior, from the day he enters
upon a course of study and a jEnugu south cious from this purpose with a view
to using them to guide and shape the student and to serve as basis for making
important decisions about the child. In other words, continuous assessment
should be systematic, comprehensive, cumulative and guidance oriented.
Therefore
Continuous assessment is said to be systematic in the sense that it is planned,
graded to suit the age and experience of the children and is given at suitable
intervals during the school year. Appropriate timing saves students from being tested
to death or becoming bored with too frequent assessments. Comprehensiveness of
continuous assessment means that it is not focused on academic skills alone. It
embraces the cognitive, the psychomotor and the affective domains. A child is
assessed as a total entity using all the psychometric devises such as test and
non test techniques. Cumulative characteristics of continuous assessment means
that all information gathered on the individual has to be pooled together
before a decision can be taken. To say that continuous assessment is guidance
oriented means that the information so collected is to be used for educational,
vocational and personal-social decision-making for the child. Guidance and
counseling activities thrive better on valid, sequential, systematic,
continuous, cumulative and comprehensive information (Denga, 2013).
Conceptually as well as in practice, continuous assessment provides feedback to
children and teachers. Such feedback provides information which is used for
purposes of improving on the child’s performance or modifying the content,
context and methods of teaching, as well as in making a variety of other
decisions. Based on these the study aimed to cover the evaluation of continuous
assessment technique in teaching and learning of economics in Enugu south Local
Government Area of Enugu State.
1.1
Statement of the Problem
The
introduction of continuous assessment technique in our school system brought in
certain problems that require the attention of both the government and other agencies
involved in educational administration. These problems need to be identified so
that possible solution could be proffered to them.
Continuous
assessment increased the workload of teachers thereby reducing efficiency and
productivity. The attempt to conduct and record assessment regularly often
lowers the teacher’s ability to cover the scheme of work on schedule.
Inadequate equipments and other instructional materials in teaching aids and
understaffing of tend to reduce the efficiency and effectiveness expected of
the students and this hampers the proper implementation of programme.
Inadequate financing of continuous assessment technique in schools is also one
of the problems affecting this programme.
The difficulties of quantifying and assessing hand
work materials, local crafts and other subjects that are practically oriented
and constant writing of reports, progress charts and record of other faults
often deviate the attention of teachers from class work (Teaching). The
problems of continuous assessment technique affect the record of transferring
students because of the differences in timing of assessment between different
schools within the same state, the researcher therefore, aim to find out the
effect of continuous assessment in teaching and learning of economics in
schools.
1.2
Purpose of the Study
Purpose of this study is to investigate the effect
of continuous assessment in teaching and learning of economics in schools:
specifically this study am,
1.
To identify the
extent to which continuous assessment techniques has been of great gain to the
school system .
2.
To examine the
capabilities of schools using the Continuous assessment technique and to
proffer solutions based on the observed problems on how to make the technique
more indigenous and reflective of our local needs especially in our schools.
3.
To determine the
problems created by the introduction of continuous assessment technique in our
school system.
4.
To establish the
benefits or gains recorded by school system as a result of the bringing into
play of continuous assessment technique.
1.3 Significance
of the Study
The study which will highlight the difficulties and
prospects of using continuous assessment technique to evaluate the performance
of students, teachers, school, parents, government and society.
The
students are seen as those whom this
technique is designed for. Continuous assessment helps to identify the areas
where students are having difficulties concerning the lessons they have
received. It is also carried out upon the students so as to ascertain the level
of performance and how the knowledge the pupils acquired during the classroom
lesson has been able to affect positively the cognitive, affective and
psychomotor domain of the learners.
The
teachers are the executors of this
technique. The teacher’s classroom activities and duties include not only
teachings and discipline in the class but also the execution of classroom
continuous assessment to test the ability of the students in handling problems
independently with the knowledge gained during the teaching activities in the
classroom. Iketaku (2013), continuous assessment provides a more valid of the
child’s overall ability and performance.
School
authority will gain a lot by creating
awareness of the importance of continuous assessment to the pupils as such is a
method of intellectual measurement of the students. The school authority has it
as a duty to see that pupils are tested from time to time for the purpose of
finding areas of difficulties and introducing workable solution for the
students’ intellectual development.
The
parents on the other hand do gain by
asking for their children welfare thereby making sure that they checkmate the
activities of their children both in the school and at home; also checkmate the
action of school authority in respect to examination and other related matters.
The
Government will known the necessary
requisite for the implementation of continuous assessments; for instance,
record keeping machine, writing materials, good environment etc. all these and
more should be readily available if continuous assessment should be valuable in
the development of pupils’ intellects.
The Society is the beneficiary of the out come of this
technique if well applied to the training of the students. Finally, the society
has an important duty in seeing that destructions that could hinder the pupils
from partaking in the continuous assessment techniques are avoided as
continuous assessment prepares students both academically and otherwise to face
societal problems.
1.4
Scope of the Study
The study aimed to cover the effect of continuous assessment in teaching
and learning of economic in secondary
schools in Enugu south local government area of Enugu state. The study will
also point out students’ academic performance in economics through the use of
continuous assessment.
1.5
Researcher
Question
1.
To what extent
does continuous assessment techniques has been of great gain to the school
system .
2.
To what extent can
the capabilities of schools using the technique and to proffer solutions based
on the observed problems on how to make the technique more indigenous and
reflective of our local needs especially in our schools.
3.
What are the
problems created by the introduction of continuous assessment technique in our
school system.
4.
What are the
benefits or gains recorded by school system as a result of the bringing into play of continuous assessment technique.
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