Continuous assessment

What is it and how does it work? Lejla Vrazalic and Lois Smith explain

Every subject has a different format and may include assessments such as essays, reports, tests and quizzes, final exams, etc. In some subjects, emphasis is placed on the final exam.

Here students don't carry out assessment tasks throughout the semester. Instead, their learning is evaluated in the end through a final exam.

Although this format was used widely in the past, it suffers from various problems. The key problem is that teachers and students don't know how much students have actually learned until the very end, and by then it's too late.

If students fail the final, there is no option but to repeat the subject. Today, most lecturers prefer a continuous assessment approach which avoids this problem.

In continuous assessment, students' learning is evaluated on an ongoing basis, right from the start, using a variety of different assessment tasks. The benefits of this approach are manifold.

Teachers are in a better position to identify student weaknesses early on and develop ways of responding to those weaknesses in a timely manner.

This helps students engage with the learning materials more actively and build on key concepts in a progressive manner, through multiple and ongoing tasks that evaluate how much they are learning.

Continuous assessment is a win-win situation for students and teachers because they both receive feedback about the learning that's taking place (or not taking place).

A number of universities in our region are starting to adopt the continuous assessment approach. However, what does this mean for students?

Studying within a continuous assessment framework is completely different when compared to simply attending classes and then taking the final exam to find out how much you know.

To begin with, subjects that use a continuous assessment approach are a lot more demanding of students' time and attention.

Students will have to complete more frequent assessment tasks based on what is taught in classes. These tasks can range from simple problem-solving activities to semester long group projects.

For example, after completing a section about balance sheets in an accounting subject, you will be given a task that involves preparing a balance sheet for a fictitious company.

This simple task could also form part of a bigger project of preparing financial statements for the company so that as you learn new concepts you apply them to the same situation through a series of smaller assessments.

In the end, you may be asked to hand in an ‘Annual Report' for the company that is based on the smaller tasks you have completed.

Don't skip classes

Continuous assessment, as the name suggests, means that you are assessed on a regular basis. This means that you have to keep up with what you are being taught.

Missing a class in a subject that uses continuous assessment can have serious consequences because you may miss out on learning a fundamental concept, which then makes it difficult to understand other related concepts.

Imagine you are doing chemistry and you don't attend the class where the Periodic Table of Elements is presented.

Without having an understanding of this basic structure and how it works, there is little chance of learning more, let alone passing the subject. So, the most important rule to follow in continuous assessment is: don't skip classes.

Continuous assessment also means that there is usually no final exam involved. Most students love this because taking final exams on which a lot depends can be a stressful and daunting experience.

However, what we find often happens, is that students become complacent. Not having a final exam doesn't mean that you can go on a holiday!

On the contrary, having lots of smaller assessments throughout a semester can be just as stressful as having one big final exam in the end.

So it's important to stay on top of things and learn to cope with a different kind of stress - one that lasts throughout the semester.

Generally, the best way to do this is to engage actively with what you are learning. This makes it more interesting and fun.

Instead of just passively taking notes in class and copying things from the board, think about what you are hearing, ask yourself whether you really understand what it means, and if not, seek an explanation.

When you reach a stage where you feel that you know the subject matter quite well, you will find taking tests and doing assignments simple and easy.

Need for planning

We have mentioned the importance of planning in several of our articles in the past and planning applies even more so in the case of continuous assessment.

If you have four subjects in a semester and each one uses continuous assessment with on average six tasks in a subject, this means you will have to complete 24 tasks in a semester.

That's a lot of work.

In some cases, the subjects will use a project task that may not seem as demanding, but if you break up the project into smaller components, there's still a great deal of work involved.

To succeed, you should plan accordingly. That means attending classes regularly, engaging with the content, completing the set tasks and receiving feedback from your lecturers.

Unfortunately, continuous assessment also means that you can't leave everything to the last minute. You have to work consistently throughout the semester.

The writers are award-winning educators and teaching/learning researchers at the University of Wollongong in Dubai