Main Article Content

The effect of alternative assessment on the attitudes and achievement in mathematics of female pre-service teachers in Ghana


BA Eshun
GK Abledu

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of exposing one of two groups of preservice female teachers to alternate forms of assessment. Both groups were first year students in a teacher training college and received 8 weeks of normal instruction in mathematics content and traditional assessment by the same teacher. The students were interviewed on their attitudes towards mathematics before and after instruction. In addition, the students took two pretests and corresponding posttests. The external achievement tests were similar to the 1997 Mathematics Paper of the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) and the internal achievement tests were based on the content of instruction. The results of the study showed significant improvement in both the internal and external achievement of the experimental group, but only significant improvement in the internal achievement of the control group. Also, the experimental group achieved higher gains on both achievement tests than the control group. Students in the experimental group exhibited greater positive attitudinal changes and expressed the benefits they derived from the alternative assessment activities in their journals and portfolios. Suggestions for intervention programmes to improve female pre-service teachers' attitudes, achievement and participation in mathematics are discussed.

African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 1, 2001: 21-30

Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 2508-1128
print ISSN: 0855-501X