Differences between Portfolio and Traditional Test to Prospective Teachers’ Academic Achievement: A Case of Ruaha Catholic University, Tanzania

Abstract

The use of portfolios towards prospective teachers’ competence acquisition as compared to tests has been of concern to most scholars worldwide. This study therefore sought to determine differences between test and portfolios in academic achievement among Ruaha Catholic University prospective teachers. It involved the use of descriptive survey research design and was guided by one null hypothesis and one alternative hypothesis. The population of the study was four 450 Ruaha Catholic University second year prospective teachers who were studying research methods in education course for the academic year 2020/2021. The sample of the study was 50 participants who were selected by using simple random sampling. Data was collected by using two instruments namely test and portfolio which were administered and then later scores were used for comparison. Findings indicated that there is a statistically significant difference between test and portfolio in academic achievement among the prospective teachers. The study recommends that higher education institutions should put effort on the use of portfolios as one of authentic assessment tools rather that dominantly using traditional paper and pen tests.