Test Types and University Students’ Performance in Mathematics 100

Abstract

Test types and students’ performance in Mathematics 100 was investigated by comparing the performance of students who were examined using only subjective (essay) examinations during 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 academic sessions with those who were examined using both subjective and objective (multiple-choice) examinations during 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 academic sessions at one University of Education, Ogun State, Nigeria. An ex-post facto research design was adopted. A purposive sampling technique was used to select all students, totalling 7532, attending Mathematics 100 levels I and II during selected academic sessions. Using their respective scores, results showed that in Mathematics 100 level I (MAT 111), students’ performance were significantly better when only subjective test were given to students, with the mean performance of 42.25 and standard deviation (SD) 16.53 compared to when both objective and subjective type of tests were given to the students with mean performance of 38.55 and SD 27.39 (t =5.055, df = 3724, p=0.000 2-tailed). However, in Mathematics 100 level II (MAT 121), students generally performed significantly better when both objective and subjective type of tests were given to the students with mean performance of 47.55 and SD 14.63 than when it was only subjective type of test with mean performance of 42.08 and SD 16.78 (t = -10.70 df = 3804, p = 0.000 2-tailed). It is concluded that the use of both type of tests (objective and subjective) in an examination are still necessary and imperative for wholesome academic testing of students’ ability. It is recommended that both types of tests, i.e., subjective and objective, should be used to examine students in Mathematics 100.