The Correlation Between Students’ Continuous Assessment and Academic Performance
Chapter One
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to establish whether a correlation existed between students’ continuous assessments performance and academic achievements of students in Junior Secondary School Examination in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Objectives of the Study
- To find out the continuous assessment strategies used by teachers in Secondary schools in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
- To find out whether there was a relationship between continuous assessments strategies (CAS) used and students‟ performance in the Junior Secondary Certificate (JSC) examinations in secondary schools in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
- To find out the teachers‟ perception of whether students exposed to various continuous assessment strategies perform better in the Junior Secondary Certificate (JSC) examination than their counterparts.
CHAPTERÂ TWO
REVIEWÂ OFÂ RELATEDÂ LITERATURE
Introduction
This chapter presents a review of relevant literature of this study. It also presents the theoretical review particularly Pavlovs Classical Conditioning Theory. It also highlights the conceptual framework, and related literature on continuous assessment, continuous assessment strategies and students‟ performance in Junior Secondary Schools.
Theoretical Review
The Classical Conditioning Theory by Ivan Pavlov (1929-1936) guided this study. Pavlov performed an experiment on dogs and discovered that dogs learnt to salivate in response to a bell. Many trials had been given in each of which the bell was sounded and food was simultaneously (slightly later) presented. It was thought therefore that students in A‟ level classes would get good grades whenever the teacher taught and students were exposed to many trials of continuous assessment activities. According to Pavlov, Conditioned Response (CR) was the response developed during training and Conditioned Stimulus (CS) was the stimulus, which included training/teaching activities intended to evoke the CR (i.e. good grades in the final examination). Unconditioned Response (UR) was the same or almost the same response as the CR but it existed prior to training, normally being given whenever a certain stimulus; the Unconditioned Stimulus (US) was presented. In this study, the Conditioned Response (CR) was the attainment of good grades, which was evoked by the Conditioned Stimulus (CS), which was continuous assessment, and Unconditioned Stimulus was the teaching. To Pavlov, pairing food and the sound of the bell made the dog salivate and in this study, pairing of teaching and continuous assessment activities could make students perform better in terms of good grades in the final examinations. The theory of Pavlov that suggested conditioned stimulus and conditioned response was an important aspect to this study in helping us to understand the relationship between continuous assessment strategies being used (i.e. assignments, teacher-made tests, recap exercises and projects) as the stimuli and academic performance of students.
CHAPTERÂ THREE
RESEARCHÂ METHODOLOGY
Introduction
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This chapter is based on the description of the method and procedure used to collect and analyze data for the study. Included are the following: Research type, sample and sampling techniques, research instrument, instrument validation, procedure for data collection and data analysis technique.
Research Type
This research study is descriptive study of the survey type. In a descriptive study of a survey type, data is collected from a sample population with specific characteristics. The sample population responds to some form of statements for the purpose of obtaining a composite report on the population.
This method was regarded as being suitable because it saves time and gets the necessary reactions of the subjects on the paper for appropriate interpretation.
Sample and Sampling Techniques`
In this study, the sample comprised of sixty (60) JSS3 students from junior secondary schools in Ogun state that we could easily access. The students were selected from schools within Ibarapa East Local Government (Rural), Akinyele Local Government, and Lagelu Local Government (Rural) Areas of Ogun state. The students sampled comprised of thirty (30) students from Urban Areas and thirty (30) students from Rural Areas of Ogun State, making fifteen (15) students from each school. The number of schools that were sampled was four. Thus:
CHAPTERÂ FOUR
DATAÂ PRESENTATIONÂ ANDÂ ANALYSIS
Introduction
This chapter deals with the presentation of data from responses and the analysis of data. The research questions are used as guide for this analysis. The information gotten from the questionnaires are treated in tabular form, result presented in single. A total number of 60 questionnaires were administered.
CHAPTERÂ FIVE
CONCLUSIONSÂ ANDÂ RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
This study was conducted to find out establish whether a correlation existed between students’ continuous assessments performance and academic achievements of students in Junior Secondary School Examination in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
In this chapter, conclusions, recommendations and areas for further research are given.
Conclusion
Drawing on students’ perceptions, there were very many continuous assessment strategies used and these were found to have a positive relationship to students‟ performance in the Junior Secondary Certificate (JSC) examination. This is because through CA, teachers tend to realize their own weaknesses in teaching and those of their students and strive to ameliorate them.
Good application of CA using different strategies would help in moving towards accomplishing learning objectives and restoring greater confidence in the class and school systems. Enhanced performance of students would culminate in the reduction of the incidences of examination malpractices, as students would have been well prepared for the certificates examinations through CA. However, the contribution should not only be looked at as improving student performance but also as determining students’ current level of knowledge, skills, or understanding of content.
Recommendations
- The Ministry of Education and Sports should put in place regulations, checks and balances to ensure that different CA strategies are used in junior secondary schools, both in Abeokuta, Ogun  A uniform policy on this practice should be emphasized so that all schools benefit from it.
- Higher institutions of learning should train teachers on how to use CA strategies for their implementationin junior secondary  It was found out through the interviews and focused group discussions that teachers complained of the many problems they found as they attempted to implement Continuous Assessments. Therefore, the training should focus on how teachers can carry out continuous assessment in the different teaching and learning stations with ease.
- Given the complexity of classroom assessment and evidence relating to teachers‟ skills and practice in this area, there is an obvious need for development of an infrastructure to support improvement of its quality. Therefore, regular training seminars/workshops should be constantly organized for teachers to update their knowledgeof the process involved in the implementation of continuous assessment to further boost the realization of learning objectives as room still exists for
Areas for Further Research
- There is a need for this research to be carried out in other states so as to compare and test how general the research findings of this study can be made.
- There is a need to research about how the teachers carry out CA strategies in various school  This will also give a detailed picture of the adaptation of a strategy to various situations.
- The role of the students, administrators and parents in CA need to be researched about. There should be some research to equip us with this information.
REFERENCES
- Adediji, Sukurat & Olabiyi, Tobi. (2015) Assessment of Business Education Students’ Academic Performance Factors in Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Ogun.
- Adelugba, O.O., 2003. Students’ performance in junior secondary school certificate examinations as predictor of performance in senior school certificate examinations in Ogun State, Nigeria. Unpublished M.Ed Thesis, University of Ibadan; Nigeria, pp: 68- 70.
- Adeyegbe, S.O., 2002. How students, examiners perform at WAEC examinations. Vanguard, Thursday, 19th December, pp: 22.
- Adeyemi, T.O., 2004. The Education Industry in Ogun State, Nigeria: An Evaluation Abuja: Rollbell Publishers, pp: 52-61.
- Adeyemi, T.O., 2007. Research methods and theses writing in educational studies. Lagos, New Haven Publishers, pp: 160-151.
- Al-Methen, A.E. and W.J. Wilkinson, 1992. Perceived causes of failure among secondary school students. Manchester University Press, November, Res. Edu., 48: 26-35.
