EDUCATION Students’ performance not affected by computer test – Study

Arecent study carried out on Nigerian primary school children has shown that there is no difference in students’ performance using paperbased and computer-based assessment delivery methods.

The study was conducted by Dragnet Solutions, an indigenous firm, deploying Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for educational and recruitment purposes.

According to the report made available to Daily Trust by the Media Officer of the firm, Abiola Apena, the study sought to find out if assessment delivery methods (pen and paper, or computer-based) could significantly affect the performance of primary school children on routine tests.

The study was conducted with students from public primary schools in ApapaIganmu area of Lagos State.

The report said some of the students knew the names of computing equipment like the mouse and the keyboard, but not many had seen them or knew how to operate the devices.

It is in this context that similar conditions were created and the students randomly divided into groups to participate in the exercise, which involved completing a timed assessment in pencil and paper format and the ComputerBased Test format.

The children were assessed using their regular English and Mathematics curriculum currently in use in primary schools in Lagos State.

The media officer said the results indicated that there were no differences in performance using either paper or CBT.

“This result is in congruence with other studies conducted on the same variables. The ability to replicate the same results is an indication that our children here in Nigeria are no different in terms of potential ability needed to embrace the use of technology for learning and development,” he said.

The findings concluded that children with little or no knowledge of computers were not hindered by the use of CBT for academic assessment.