Variation indexes of marks due to continuous assessment. Empirical approach at university / Índices de variación de la nota debidos a la evaluación continua. Contrastación empírica en la enseñanza universitaria

Abstract The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has required continuous assessment at university in Spain. The goal of this paper is to analyse how continuous assessment modifies the subject’s final mark, to ascertain whether it improves or lowers the final exam score and to determine whether other variables also affect this relationship. To accomplish this, we have created a database with the marks earned by students who took the final exam in the Financial Accounting class at university in the last three academic years. A variation index of the exam score was constructed as a consequence of continuous assessment, and it was analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The results obtained from the marks and the index were analysed using contingency tables, ANOVA, regression analyses and a contrast of differences in mean. The main conclusions allow us to state that continuous assessment has an important direct effect on the learning process as well as on the final exam score and the overall class mark, and that other variables also influence them.