How External Assessment Mediates Teaching, Learning and Assessment in Junior High School in Ghana

Abstract

Abstract: External assessment is traditionally regarded as a neutral activity detached from teaching and learning. Consequently the learning-inducing effect of this type of assessment receives little attention when the tests are developed. This article reports the findings of a study of the importance attached to an external assessment by 40 teachers and 120 students in their teaching and learning activities respectively. Questionnaires and interviews were used to gather data on the perceived influence of the assessment and the real life experiences of its role in the interaction between the teachers and their students in the classroom. Statistical analyses show that the students have a significantly higher opinion of the learninginducing effect of the external assessment than the teachers and there are differences in the structure of the factors that underlie their opinions. Analysis of the interviews confirms that both the teachers and students attach a great deal of importance to the assessment as it influences teaching and learning activities in the classroom. It was concluded that both the teachers and the students attach a great deal of importance to the external assessment, suggesting that more attention needs to be paid to its hidden effect on education when tests are developed for such assessments.