Effect of Frequent Testing On Female Students Performance in Some Selected Physics Concepts at the Senior High School in Ghana

Abstract

Educational assessment is considered as one of the most important aspects of higher education and most educational institutions rely on tests to determine students’ performance, achievements and certification. However, extensive literature reviewed indicates that no study has been conducted to determine the effects of frequent testing on female students’ performance in Physics. This study investigated the effect of frequent testing on the performance of female students in some selected Physics concepts. The study used quantitative research approach and action research design. Fifty (50) second year female science students formed the study participants. Data was collected using tests. The experimental data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and one-sample t-test. The mean score for each student for the six week-period was determined. The overall mean score for the entire students was determined to give an idea of students’ general performance in the frequent tests after both reading assignments and teaching of concepts. The results of the study showed that the mean scores obtained by students after teaching concepts (μ=6.35) was better than mean scores of students after reading assignment (μ=2.74). In addition, the results clearly showed a statistically significant difference in the performance of students after the teaching concepts (p<0.05). These results further suggest that frequent testing after teaching constitutes an effective way of improving the performance of female students in Physics. The study recommends that science teachers in general, and Physics teachers in particular, should employ frequent testing in their teaching and learning process as testing makes students learn ahead which in effect affect their performance in Physics positively.