The present study based on the progressive theory to examine the impact of implementing progressive assessment on students' final academic performance in Libya. A quantitative approach was employed on data which was collected from 35 students from a listening and speaking course in the Faculty of Education in Misurata University. Several types of formative assessment were included in the educational program, such as peer assessments, quizzes, discussions, presentations, debates and think-pair-share. The data was analyzed by ANCOVA and regression analysis.
Does performance in progressive assessment improve student's scores?
Abstract
The present study based on the progressive theory to examine the impact of implementing progressive assessment on students' final academic performance in Libya. A quantitative approach was employed on data which was collected from 35 students from a listening and speaking course in the Faculty of Education in Misurata University. Several types of formative assessment were included in the educational program, such as peer assessments, quizzes, discussions, presentations, debates and think-pair-share. The data was analyzed by ANCOVA and regression analysis. The results showed that there is a statistically positive relationship between students' progressive assessment performance marks and their Final scores. Importantly, the findings support the constructivist learning theory which gives priority to students' autonomous learning.
Keywords: progressive assessment, final outcomes, and performance
1.Introduction
1.1 Background of the study
A large body of literature show that there is noticeable increase in the shift towards implementing progressive assessment as teaching/ learning methodology to enhance student's education (Al-Jarmouzi, 2019). Many of the previous research studies that examined the efficacy of progressive assessments in improving students' final performance succeeded to develop understanding which related to specific educational contexts. For this reason, this study is an attempt to extend the understanding of this topic within the Libyan context, which has not been thoroughly investigated.
1.2 Statement of the problem
In higher education in Libya, continuous evaluations are widely implemented in academic programs to evaluate students' performance, but there is not much research done in the Libyan context that shows the effect of continuous evaluations on enhancing students' learning and preparing them for final exams .
In spite of the research findings that prove the effectiveness of continuous assessments in enhancing students' learning, there are many researchers still question whether they can lead students to better final mastery of their academic subject.
This study is an attempt to investigate the impact of progressive assessments on students' final outcomes. And it seeks to develop better understanding of this topic in the Libyan context ....
1.3 The aim of the study
The purpose of this study is to shed light on the efficacy of progressive assessment in improving students' scores in English learning.
1.4 Research questions
Q1. Do progressive assessment activities affect students' performance in final exams?
If yes, Q2. To what extent do progressive assessment activities affect students' performance in final exams?
1.5 Hypothesis
- Null hypothesis
There is no statistically relationship between students' progressive assessment performance and their final scores.
H◦: β = 0
(where β is the regression coefficient representing the relationship between progressive assessment scores and final scores).
- Alternative hypothesis
There is a statistically significant positive relationship between students' progressive assessment performance scores and their final scores.
H¹: β ˃ 0
(This suggests that as progressive assessment performance scores increase, final scores also increase)
1.6 Significance of the study
This study explores the effect of using progressive assessment on the final outcomes of English learners in Libya. Despite of the increasing research in the field of language learning in Libya, there is limited research on using progressive assessment to achieve better final outcomes. The findings can guide the decision makers at the Faculty of Education to implement this type of assessment as a teaching technique that can lead to better educational achievements. Additionally, it lays the groundwork for new studies in the Libyan context.
1.7 The theoretical framework of the study
Progressivism
Progressivism is an American movement which is basically concerned with philosophy and politics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It calls upon social justice and the use of scientific and rational methods to improve human societies. It advocates for social reform to address inequality and injustice, government intervention to protect citizens and innovation and modernization in social, educational and political contexts. Regarding education, progressivism emphasizes student-centered learning, critical thinking, problem solving and experiential learning. Importantly, this movement is grounded in the field of education by John Dewey who argued that education should be implemented in real-life activities and democratic environment (English, 2016).
Progressive educational theory
Progressive educational theory was developed by John Dewey and others in the 20th century. It stays away from traditional, teacher-centered instruction and emphasizes experience-based approach, student-centered learning, learning by doing, critical thinking, group-work, curriculum related to student's needs and learning in a democratic environment (English, 2016) .
Progressive assessment
Progressive assessment -also called formative assessment- is a method applies continuous evaluations of students' performance during the educational process. It aims to enhance learning with timely feedback through various tools, such as: quizzes, self and peer assessments, discussions, presentations and group-work. It focuses to guide student learning progress and identify learning gaps (Black and William, 1998).
1.8 Related studies
Progressive assessment had significant attention in the field of research in the last decade due to its potential influence on learning achievements. Many research studies examined the effect of progressive assessments on students' final outcomes within different educational contexts. For example, Black and William (1998), conducted a study by using meta-analyses which showed significant learning gains. These assessments applied progressive evaluations across various subjects and all of them showed significant improvements in students' learning levels.
According to Lawrence (2009), performance of students through progressive assessment has positive impact on their final examination outcomes. The analysis that implemented in this study revealed that students who achieved high grades in the performance marks had a 37% chance of achieving the same level in their final outcomes. On the contrary, the ones who only got pass grades in their performance had a 54% chance of failing in the final exam results. This goes along with what (Alauddin, 2010: 293) said "… students' performance in progressive assessments had a significant positive impact on final examination, so has the impact on of learning diary."
A study by Ali and Ramana (2013), examined English proficiency and its relationship with the academic success among international students in US university, showed that students who regularly participated in the assessment activities (e.g. presentations, discussions, assignments) performed better in their final exams.
A comprehensive meta-analysis of 225 researches in various university departments: math, science and engineering, showed that implementing ongoing assessment as one of learning strategies helped in reducing failure rates from 32% to 21% (Freeman et al., 2014).
A research study by Gür and Eriçok (2020) investigated the academic outcomes of 194 students who enrolled on graded foreign language courses (courses I-VI). The study results showed that students' performance in the early courses had positive impact on their final outcomes.
A study was conducted by National Institute of Education in Singapore (2024), examined the effect of integrating student- involved assessment on primary school pupils. The findings showed that involving pupils in the assessment process enabled them to develop better understanding of class tasks and receive immediate corrective feedback that led to more learning success.
Three studies investigated this topic in (2024) by using meta-analyses and showed similar findings: The first one was a systematic review of meta-analyses on K-12 students, showed positive efficacy of progressive assessments on final outcomes that ranged from trivial to large (Sortwell et al., 2024). The second study was conducted in Kingston University by Foster (2024), showed similar findings gained from progressive assessments on the final performance of the participating students, especially when feedback was timely, and specific. And the third one took place in Tanzania, by Mmari et al. (2024), investigated the influence of continuous assessment on student engagement and performance in secondary education. The findings supported the alternative hypothesis when the continuous assessment scores were strongly correlated with the final grades.
One of the most recent studies (2025), a South China study, was on 280 middle-school students showed that teachers' emotional support enhances the link between formative assessments and better student achievements (Wu & Yu 2025).
2. Methodology
2.1 Participants
The participants were 35 female students from English department at the Faculty of Education, Misurata university in Libya. They enrolled on listening and speaking course of the first semester. The sample of the study was all the students of group 2.
2.2 Methodology and data analysis
This study employed the Analysis of Covariate (ANCOVA) using the programming language R to examine the effect of the independent variable [the performance marks of the participating students] on the dependent variable [ their final outcomes], after controlling for the influence of the covariate [the performance marks].
A plot for checking linearity assumption was used to test the linearity between the covariate and the dependent variable.
2.3 Ethics
The participants' names were anonymized and coded to prevent identification. Only the researcher had access to the collected data.
3. Result s
Results in Figure1 and Table 1. Show that the performance mark significantly contributes to increasing the final mark.
3.1 Checking assumptions:
3.1.1 Linearity assumption
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
Fig. 1. Plot for checking linearity assumption. The Y-axis represents the dependent variable (Final Mark), and the X-axis represents the independent variable (Performance Mark).
3.1.2 Table 1. ANCOVA results for the effect of Performance (as a covariate) on Final Mark as a dependent variable.
Illustrations are not included in the reading sample
3.2 Results interpretation
This section presents the interpretation of the ANCOVA results:
aov( final mark ~ performance mark): this model shows the effect of students' performance marks on their final outcomes.
3.2.1 Table summary
Illustrations are not included in the reading sample
4. Discussion
This study implemented progressive assessment to examine the influence of English students' performance marks on their final outcomes at the Faculty of Education in Misurata University. The findings showed a positive relationship between the students' performance marks and final scores. These results support many previous research studies such as: The study by Foster (2024), showed similar findings gained from progressive assessments on the final performance of the participating students, especially when feedback was timely, and specific. And another one took place in Tanzania, by Mmari et al. (2024), investigated the influence of continuous assessment on student engagement and performance in secondary education. Furthermore, the findings align with the findings of the research study which was conducted by Sortwell et al. (2024), showed positive efficacy of progressive assessments on final outcomes that ranged from trivial to large. And it suggests that progressive assessment does not merely lead to get better scores but contributes to enhance learning. Continuous assessment tasks give opportunities to align educational efforts between the teacher and students and this in tern increases motivation and emotional support which leads to better scores ( Wu & Yu 2025). Despite the strengths of this study, there are two limitations that should be acknowledged. Firstly, The lack of previous studies on this topic within the Libyan context hindered building on past experiences to reach better understanding and achieve accurate results. Secondly, the sample of the study was limited to only one academic institution, thus reducing generalizability. Importantly, the findings have practical and theoretical implications. Practically, the need for training educators in the various formative assessment techniques that can enhance teaching/ learning process. Theoretically, the study shed light on the importance of implementing the constructivist learning theory by empowering students' autonomous learning in the educational institutions in Libya. Further studies could explore the impact of task types of progressive assessment on final scores.
5. Conclusion
There is a statistically significant relationship between performance marks and final marks. The p-value is extremely small, indicating strong evidence against the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative hypothesis. To conclude, this research study builds on earlier studies and supports that progressive assessment performance leads to better final outcomes. Furthermore, it is not only an evaluation tool but also a pedagogical strategy that can enhance learning.
References
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- Arbeit zitieren
- Abeer Maiteeg (Autor:in), 2025, Does performance in progressive assessment improve student's scores?, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/1602330
