COURSE: RESEARCH METHODS

PROPOSAL WRITING

TOPIC: ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS: WHETHER END OF SEMESTER EXAMINATION IS THE ONLY INDICATOR OF STUDENTS PERFORMANCE. (A CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY OF GHANA)

INTRODUCTION
Lecturers most often use assessment to obtain information that helps them improve their instruction. This in turn helps them to bridge the gap between curriculum standards and student achievement. Assessment is also used for accountability purposes, for both students and teachers. Classrooms are made up of a diversity of learners and so to help them to make appropriate instructional decisions and to provide valid information for accountability, teachers use a wide variety of assessments.

PROBLEM DEFINITION
Most tertiary institutions determine students performance only on the basis of examination at the end of each semester. The issue here is whether examination is enough to determine a students performance and whether its indeed gives a true and fair view of actual performance.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Veteran first grade teacher Debbi Beckhorn states "... I have seen many changes in the arena of assessment and monitoring of student progress. More and more, it seems, we need to 'check in' with students more frequently in order to carefully lead them in their next step in the learning process. I use a variety of assessment tools to 'dip in' to a student's progress..."(Beckhorn, 2000). For this first grade teacher, the use of assessment information helps her make instructional decisions, allowing her to guide her students' progress along academic continuums. Joanne Schmitt, a high school mathematics teacher uses formal assessments in this way on a weekly basis. "At least once a week, I give a short quiz to get a more formal assessment of (students') progress. From the results ... I judge whether or not I need to re-teach and/or give more practice on concepts." (Schmitt, 2000) Assessments can be placed in two categories, alternative assessments and traditional assessments. Alternative assessments include observations, performance assessments, student self-assessments, and portfolios. Traditional assessments include both standardized and classroom achievement tests with predominately selection type questions (Bol, Stephenson, & Nunnery, 1998). Classrooms are diverse collections of children and learning is a complex process. In order to provide valid and usable information, assessment needs to be given in a variety of ways, using both traditional and alternative methods instead of sticking to one method. This makes sense because given the diversity of achievement targets it becomes obvious that no single assessment method is capable of reflecting them all. In other words, student 2

achievements such as the memorization of multiplication facts are best measured by assessment methods such as a traditional paper-and-pencil achievement test, it doesn't make sense to create a portfolio based entirely on math facts mastered (although it could be done). With other modes of learning, alternative assessment methods provide better information. For instance a writing product can be assessed through the use of a scoring rubric, likely providing more valid information for both instructional and accountability purposes than a multiple choice test would. In fact, performance-based assessment provides teachers with information about how the student understands and applies knowledge and this can't be done as well with multiple choice tests. Students attend school to learn and teachers' main purpose is to guide them in this endeavor. Because of this, although there are other legitimate reasons for assessment, obtaining information about student achievement in order to guide instruction is the most important one. When used in this way, instruction improves and more closely meets the needs of the individual child, student learning is enhanced, and teachers will be better able to bridge that gap between student achievement and curriculum standards. The learning process is complex and educational targets are diverse, so that a wide variety of assessment tools are needed to get the appropriate information. If we truly believe that all children have a right and an ability to learn, then we need to keep the most important use of assessment in its place. Information to better meet the learning needs of our children must be the top priority of assessment. Assessment is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end: classroom decision making (Airasian p 364, 1997).

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The research would address the following questions: What is meant by students assessment? Is it really important to assess students? In what ways can students be assessed? Is examination enough to assess students for a whole semester?

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to examine the various ways of assessment and determine whether end of semester examination is the only appropriate form of student assessment.

RESEARCH DESIGN
The research is being carried out in the educational sector of the economy. This sector has been chosen because it has a significant impact on the growth and development of every economy. The questionnaire approach will be used in carrying out the research. Our choice of this approach is because; It is inexpensive to analyse and distribute The same questions can be given to many people at the same time.

DATA COLLECTION
Population: Students Sample size: 20% of the population The questionnaire would be distributed to every faculty.

TIMESCALE
Due to time constraints in the semester, the study would be carried out within a period of two months.

RESOURCES
Finance Equipments Computer, printer, pen drive Data access: Microsoft Office

REFERENCES
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Airasian, Peter W. (1997) Classroom Assessment, Third Edition. New York: McGrawHill Companies, Inc. Beckhorn, Debbi (2000), [Assessment interview, Chimacum Creek Primary School]. Unpublished interview (3/22/00). Bol, Linda.; Stephenson, Patricia L. Nunnery, John A. (1998) Influence of experience, grade level, and subject area on teachers' assessment practices. The Journal of Educational Research Washington, D.C. v. 91 no6, p. 323-30. (online) Available: Eric FirstSearch, http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org/html/webscript.html: %3Asessionid=sp02sw09-33717-c6lczc8n-jeissc (3/20/00) Brualdi, Amy (1999). Performance-based Assessment: How Students Understand and Apply Knowledge. Schools in the Middle 9 no4 22-5 D. (online) Available: WilsonWeb, http://wilsonweb2.hwwilson.com (4/2/00). Schmitt, Joanne. (2000). [Assessment interview, Chimacum High School]. Unpublished interview (4/1/00).