EFFECT OF CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT SCORES ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF NATIONAL CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION (NCE) BIOLOGY STUDENTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of continuous assessment scores on academic achievement of National Certificate in Education (NCE) Biology students in Anambra State. Three research questions and three null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Related literature were reviewed which helped to highlight more facts necessary for building the study. The pre-test post-test quasi experimental design was used for the study. The population of the study was 640 NCE Biology students which comprised of 264 NCE Biology students in College of Education, technical Umunze; and 376 NCE Biology students of Nwafor Orizu College of Education, Nsugbe. The sample for the study was 120 NCE Biology students (45 male and 75 female) as respondents. Two instruments, Teacher Made Test (TMT) was used for the Continuous Assessment and Biology Achievement Test (BAT) was used as both pretest and post test. The test items were content and face validated by three experts. The instrument has a reliability value of .94 using Kudar-Richardson (K-R₂₀) test which was considered adequate for the study. Research questions were answered with mean and standard deviation, while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used in testing the hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The finding of the study showed that male students achieve more than female students after two and four sets of continuous assessments while female students achieve more than male students in final examinations in NCE Biology. The study also revealed there is a significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students exposed to two and four sets of continuous assessments in NCE Biology. The study further revealed that there is a significant mean difference between continuous assessment scores and final examination scores of students exposed to four sets of continuous assessments in NCE Biology. The study therefore concluded that the treatment of continuous assessment had significant and positive effect on academic achievement of students in NCE Biology. Thus, students tend to achieve more in  Biology concepts better when exposed to series of continuous assessments. In the light of the findings from this study, it was recommended among Biology teachers should strive to see that at least four continuous assessments are given to students per semester in order to improve their academic achievement and that teachers should also be properly trained on the methods and techniques of continuous assessment construction and administration so as to improve the system.