Objective Assessment of Students’ Cognitive Learning Outcomes: A Plea for Quality Science Education Instrument

Abstract

Science education instrument is one of the determinants of quality output in the production of scientists for technological emancipation of a nation. It  provides feedback on learning for knowledge and skills acquisition towards award of a certificate of proficiency and competence. However, the rate of  graduate unemployment had been on a steady increase over the last two decades. As a result of low quality of certificated outputs. Therefore, the paper  examines processes of constructing and validating a reliable instrument for measuring cognitive learning outcomes in science education in colleges of  education in Nigeria. Also, it identifies features of a good question paper and marking guide/scheme as complementary components in the assessment  of students’ academic growth. Recommendations were made towards ensuring a valid and reliable quantification of students’ cognitive achievement in  science education.