2023/11/08 by Tolesa, Biratu
#Challenges of C.A. #benefits of C.A #conception #students’ learning
paper · doi:10.20372/star.v8i3.03
In line with the introduction of a competency-based modular approach to teaching and learning in public universities in Ethiopia, continuous assessment (C.A.) as a prime mode of assessing students’ learning achievement has been in place since 2013. The aim of this study was to analyse the conceptions of teachers and students concerning the benefits and challenges of this assessment technique. To put this into effect, the study employed a qualitative research methodology in which focus group discussions (FGD) and interviews were used as primary data collection tools and document reviews as secondary data collection tools. Data were collected between February and March 2017 from thirty teachers, one Academic Quality, Testing, and Assessment Directorate Director (the Director), and thirty-two undergraduate students in year II and above. The results of the study indicated that students across all programmes at the university were used to being assessed at least seven times for every course they took, and the types of assessments were found to be similar or uniform across all courses and programmes offered at the university. Likewise, both teachers and students who participated in this study held the conception that the practise of C.A. in the university was deficient in that it had little benefit to the improvement of students’ knowledge and skills as well as to their reading approach. Based on these findings, it was concluded that the way C.A. was assumed to serve and implemented and the way it has been conceived by teachers and students have been found to be parallel, and as a result, this practise has not been serving its intended benefits for the learning of students.