Impact of computer-based testing modes on academic achievement among senior secondary school students in Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Innovation in education has led to several changes and method of testing is no exception. Paper-Pencil examination is less used as a method of determining students’ achievement nowadays owing to several limitations. Computer-based testing has been adopted by some testing organisations, however, some elements of cheating are still perceived. Thus, the study investigated the effects of Computer-Multimedia Test (CMT) and Randomized Computer-Based Test (RCBT) on academic achievement of senior secondary students. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design. The population comprised all the Senior Secondary School three (SSS 3) students who took the 2017 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Multi-stage process sampling procedure was used to select three Local Education Authorities, nine secondary schools and three hundred and thirty-five (335) students who participated in the study. The nine selected schools were randomly assigned 3 each to CMT, RCBT and Randomized Paper-Pencil Test (RPPT) examination mode groups. Five research instruments were used for data collection and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Two research hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings indicate that the participants in the RCBT group performed significantly better in English Language and Mathematics Achievement Tests than the participants in other groups. However, majority while answering the Scale of Attitude to Computer-based Testing attested to the fact that CMT is better at curbing cheating. Based on these findings, recommendations are made that RCBT should be initially adopted to acclimatise students to computer-based examinations while CMT should be gradually embraced for all examinations in Nigerian secondary schools not to only to effect a change of attitude towards cheating in examination but also to curb it and promote true learning.

Keywords: Computer-Based Testing modes, Academic Achievement, Innovative items