A e we assessing co ec ly ou s uden s? Spain e sus Finland
Camacho-Miñano, Ma ía del Ma a; del Campo, C is inab; Da id Pascual-Ezamac;
U quia-G ande, Elenac; Ri e o, Ca losb; and Akpina , Mu a d
a Depa men o Accoun ing, Uni e si y College o Financial S udies (CUNEF), Spain,
bDepa men o S a is ics and OR (Decision Analysis), Uni e sidad Complu ense de
Mad id, Spain, cDepa men o Financial Economics and Accoun ing II, Uni e sidad
Complu ense de Mad id, Spain, dSchool o Business, JAMK Uni e si y o Applied
Sciences, Finland.
Abs ac
The aim o his pape is wo old: i s , o analyse he compa ison o
cou sewo k and inal examina ion be ween Finland and Spain o es i he e
a e di e ences in assessmen me hodologies; second, o s udy whe he he e
a e di e en ac o s (such as gende , age, subjec , s uden s’ mo i a ion, and
p e e ences) ha ha e an impac on he assessmen o s uden s om he wo
coun ies. The inal g ades ob ained by 117 eshmen en olled on he
S a is ics and/o Financial Accoun ing subjec s in Business Adminis a ion
Deg ee a e analyzed. The mos in e es ing esul s a e ha he cou sewo k
ma k is highe han he inal examina ion in bo h subjec s in bo h
Uni e si ies, excep o male s uden s en olled in s a is ics. Also a iables
such as gende , ype o subjec and s uden s´p e e ences ha e an impac on
academic ou comes.
Keywo ds: Assessmen ; EHEA; cou sewo k; inal exam; ac i e lea ning.
2nd In e na ional Con e ence on Highe Educa ion Ad ances, HEAd’16
Uni e si a Poli `
ecnica de Val`
encia, Val`
encia, 2016
DOI: h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/HEAd16.2016.2590
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A e we assessing co ec ly ou s uden s? Spain e sus Finland
1. In oduc ion
In he pas ew yea s, uni e si y access and pa icipa ion a es ha e aised signi ican ly,
in e na ionaliza ion and li e-long lea ning ha e become essen ial and g adua es
employabili y has become an essen ial conce n. The Eu opean Highe Educa ion A ea
(EHEA) has made Highe Educa ion Ins i u ions (HEI) ocus on a a mo e dynamic eaching
me hodology and a s uden -cen e ed lea ning app oach, among o he changes, leading o an
imp o emen in educa ion. The EHEA has also p esen ed a challenge o lec u e s shi ing
om adi ional eaching o ac i e and dynamic me hodologies whe e he s uden s “a e
doing some hing besides passi ely lis ening” (Ryan & Ma ens 1989, p.20). Howe e , hese
changes a e being di icul o implemen as new c ea i e eaching me hodologies equi e
highe human esou ces de elopmen , mo e esea ch in educa ion, new class oom
in as uc u es, new quali y assessmen sys ems and smalle s uden - eache a ios, inally,
mo e in es men in highe educa ion. Taking in o accoun all o hese changes, he eaching
expe iences o some lec u e s e idence he conce n abou one basic issue in he “c ea i e”
p ocess o s uden s’ lea ning: he assessmen o his lea ning. Cu en ly uni e si ies publish
subjec s’ syllabus o con en s o he subjec s adap ed o ac i e lea ning me hodologies and
schedules adap ed o he Eu opean C edi T ans e Sys em (ECTS) o all uni e si ies
belonging o he EHEA o ha e comp ehensi e and homogeneous deg ees. Howe e , in
mos o he cases, assessmen homogeniza ion has no been achie ed ye . Assessmen has
been de ined as ‘ he p ocess o e idencing and e alua ing he ex en o which a candida e
has me o made p og ess in lea ning con en s owa ds he assessmen c i e ia’ (Cox e al.,
2008, p. 34). As Hand e al. (1996) explains “assessmen is seen as a cos d i e ” (p. 105)
due o he implica ion o academic s a in his ime-consuming and complex p ocess. A
he same ime, assessmen is alued as a majo in luence upon he quali y o he lea ning
p ocess (Gibbs, 1992). The e o e, nowadays, assessmen is a s a egic ma e o
comple ing he syllabus wi h he EHEA equi emen s. The e o e assessmen should se e
mul iple pu poses such as p o iding in o ma ion abou s uden lea ning, s uden p og ess,
eaching quali y, and o p og am and ins i u ional accoun abili y (Fle che e al., 2012).
Wi h he EHEA en i onmen , assessmen c i e ia has changed o a mo e holis ic sys em
embodying bo h he s uden ’s daily e o and he inal examina ion. The e o e, ollowing
ac i e me hodologies, he inal g ade o a subjec is he weigh ed mean be ween he
cou sewo k and he inal examina ion ma ks. Fo mal examina ion e e s o closed-book
ime-cons ained w i en essay, es o exe cises, e y simila o he adi ional unique
o ma o assessmen . Cou sewo k e e s o al e na i e assessmen o di e en ac i i ies he
s uden mus pe o m including wo k in g oup essays, o al p esen a ions, simula ions, e c
(see Camacho-Miñano e al., 2015). The logical hypo hesis is ha s uden s wi h highe
g ades in cou sewo k will ha e he highes g ades in he inal exams because hey a e
s udying in a con inuous way, hey a e engaged in hei lea ning and hey ha e done much
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Camacho-Miñano, M. M.; del Campo, C.; Pascual-Ezama, D.; U quia-G ande, E.; Ri e o, C.; and Akpina , M.
mo e p ac ice, enhancing he eal unde s anding o he subjec . Howe e , se e al empi ical
s udies show he opposi e esul s, ha cou sewo k g ades a e highe han he inal exam
(see Yo ke e al., 1996; Tian, 2007).
The e o e, wo uni e si ies om Spain and Finland, he Uni e sidad Complu ense de
Mad id (UCM) and he Jy äskylä Uni e si y o Applied Science (JAMK), espec i ely,
ha e expe ience on coope a ion among eache s o S a is ics and Accoun ing. They ha e
exchanged expe iences on applying new eaching me hodologies. Mo eo e , as Finland is
one o he ou s anding coun ies in Eu opean educa ion (G ek, 2009) i could be an example
o ollow o o he con inen al coun ies such as Spain, a coun y wi h a lowe pe o mance
in he PISA epo s (Calo-Blanco & Villa , 2010).
Bea ing hese issues in mind, he objec i e o his pape is wo old: i s , o analyse he
compa ison o cou sewo k and inal examina ion esul s in wo subjec s o he Business
Adminis a ion Deg ee be ween Finland and Spain in o de o es i he e a e di e ences;
second, whe he he e a e di e en ac o s (such as gende , age, subjec , s uden s’
mo i a ion and p e e ences) ha ha e an impac on he assessmen among s uden s om he
wo coun ies.
The con ibu ions o his pape showed he e a e di e ences be ween Finland and Spain,
depending on he s uden s’ pe cep ion, s uden s’ gende and ype o cou se. Mo eo e , his
s udy highligh s implica ions o manage s, eache s and s uden s in o de o imp o e
assessmen c i e ia.
2. Sample da a and Me hod
The pa icipan s we e 117 eshmen en olled on he S a is ics and Financial Accoun ing
subjec s in he Business Adminis a ion unde g adua e deg ee, augh in English in bo h
uni e si ies. They we e di ided in 61 s uden s en olled a he Uni e sidad Complu ense de
Mad id (Mad id, Spain) and 56 s uden s a he JAMK Uni e si y o Applied Science
(Jy askyla, Finland) om which 46% o he esponden s we e male and 40% emale.
The esea ch a iable analyzed is he inal g ade ob ained by he al eady men ioned 117
eshmen en olled on he S a is ics and/o Financial Accoun ing subjec s in he Business
Adminis a ion Deg ee. G ades ange om 0 o 10, whe e 0 means he wo s possible esul
and 10 he bes one. The g ades a e di ided in o wo in e als: g ades in [0, 5) mean ailu e
and g ades in [5, 10] mean success, imp o ing as hey app oach 10. Wi h he EHEA
me hodology he inal exam is no he only componen o he inal g ade. The inal exam
(FE) consis ing in an in igila ed closed-book ime-cons ained examina ion wi h only a
weigh o 60% o 70% depending on he uni e si y (UCM o JAMK, espec i ely). The
o he pa o he inal g ade, called cou sewo k (CW), is composed o ac i e pa icipa ion,
assignmen s (exe cises, cases, simula ions, eal-wo ld p oblems, e c.) and in e im class es s
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A e we assessing co ec ly ou s uden s? Spain e sus Finland
(Heywood, 2000; Camacho-Miñano e al., 2015). Also he s uden s ha e wo oppo uni ies
in he yea o si o he inal exam and pass he subjec , while he cou sewo k componen is
ob ained du ing he lec u ing pe iod.
The s uden s we e asked o ill in a ques ionnai e o 20 i ems di ided in h ee sec ions:
demog aphic da a (age, gende , na ionali y and wo king s a us), backg ound da a
(uni e si y access exam g ade, deg ee posi ion in uni e si y applica ion, p e ious
knowledge o subjec s o ma h sco e) and some lea ning s a egies (p e e ed ways o
s udy, p e e ed ype o e alua ion, eam wo king p e e ences).
Ou o he 117 en olled s uden s only 111 pa icipa ed in he su ey whe e esponden a es
we e di e en depending on he ques ion because no all o he s uden s answe ed all he
ques ions, being highe in JAMK. Missing da a was no conside ed.
The sample is almos homogeneous because mos o he ques ions on he su ey gi e
simila alues, bu he e is a g ea di e ence in hei wo king s a us. While he majo i y o
s uden s in JAMK a e wo king (77%) in UCM only a 33%.
3. Resul s and indings
Analysing he e alua ion di e ences be ween cou sewo k assessmen and inal exam
assessmen s i can be seen in he box plo (Figu e 1) ha o a majo i y o he s uden s
(58%) he cou sewo k ma k (CW) is bigge han he inal exam ma k (FE). Howe e , he
di e ence be ween cou sewo k and inal exam ma ks (Di ) is highe o JAMK s uden s
(mean and median mo e han ce o) wi h smalle dispe sion. A a iance analysis con i med
ha hose di e ences on he “Di ” a iable a e s a is ically signi ican .
Figu e 1. Di a iable box plo s
As i can be obse ed in he Figu e 1 he h ee dis ibu ions a e qui e symme ical as he
mean and he median a e e y simila wi h also he whiske s o simila leng h. The
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Camacho-Miñano, M. M.; del Campo, C.; Pascual-Ezama, D.; U quia-G ande, E.; Ri e o, C.; and Akpina , M.
dis ibu ion o JAMK is a li le igh skewed, as can be seen om he leng h o he igh
whiske and om he ac ha he mean is highe han he median. I can be also seen in
Figu e 2 ha a majo i y o poin s a e below he diagonal (CW = FE), meaning he
cou sewo k ma k (CW) is highe han he Final exam ma k (FE). In ac , 58% o he
s uden s ha e highe CW han FE, bu pe cen ages a e qui e di e en depending on he
coun y: while in Spain only 47% s uden s has highe CW han FE, in Finland he
pe cen age inc eases o 74%.
Figu e 2. Cou sewo k ma k agains inal examina ion ma k sca e plo
The e is a g ea di e ence in he alues o he di e ence ega ding he uni e si ies, as in
bo h he cou sewo k and he inal exam ma ks he alues in JAMK a e much highe han in
UCM, as i can be seen in Figu es 3.a and 3.b.
Figu e 3a. Cou sewo k box plo s by uni e si y
Figu e 3b. Final exam box plo s by uni e si y
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A e we assessing co ec ly ou s uden s? Spain e sus Finland
Rega ding he subjec s (Accoun ing and S a is ics), S a is ics has, in a e age, highe alues
in bo h he cou sewo k and inal exam han in Accoun ing (mean and median a e highe ),
bu he di e ence is simila (see Figu es 4.a, 4.b).
Figu e 4a. Cou sewo k box plo s by subjec
Figu e 4b. Final exam box plo s by subjec
In o de o analyse he in luence o di e en s uden s’ ac o s on assessmen eg ession and
a iance analyses we e ca ied ou . The cou sewo k (CW) and he inal exams ma ks (FE),
as well as he di e ence be ween hem (Di ) we e used as dependen a iables whe eas he
o he 16 a iables, h ee quan i a i e and wel e quali a i e ac o s, coming om he
ques ionnai e ( inal g ade, numbe o calls1, p e e ed e alua ion ype, Uni e si y access
examina ion, Ma hs g ade, gende , mo i e o elec ing he deg ee, deg ee posi ion in he
uni e si y applica ion, ype o lec u e , s udy me hod, lea ning s yle and eam wo k
p e e ences) we e used as explana o y a iables. Only gende , ype o subjec and s uden s’
p e e ences had in luence on he cou sewo k and inal exam di e ences be ween he
analysed g oups om Finland and Spain.
4. Discussion and conclusions
Ou indings epo ha , in gene al, in bo h uni e si ies and o bo h subjec s lea ning was
enhanced by s uden in ol emen in he lea ning p ocess, ac i i ies and en i onmen ha
we e mos di ec ly ela ed o he lea ning ou comes (S uyen e al., 2008; Alauddin & Khan,
2010), bu cou sewo k ma ks ha e esul ed highe han he examina ion ones (Mu dan,
2005). Mo eo e , he e a e some di e ences in gende in he same way in line wi h
Wood ield e al. (2005) and Simoni e (2003).
1 Numbe o calls is he numbe o imes a s uden has p e iously sa o he inal exam ( om ce o o ou imes in ou sample).
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Camacho-Miñano, M. M.; del Campo, C.; Pascual-Ezama, D.; U quia-G ande, E.; Ri e o, C.; and Akpina , M.
Secondly, he e a e di e ences in Finland and Spain depending on he uni e si y’s
assessmen cul u e, gende and cou se. Those di e ences may be due o cul u al ac o s
(Bae en e al., 2008). Ano he explana ion could be ha Spanish eache s a e no assessing
in a igh way he skills and compe ences de ined o be assessed in each cou sewo k
because o less expe ience in ac i e lea ning me hodologies and because he e is s ill a
challenge o assessing key compe ences ac oss he cu iculum (Peppe , 2011).
Finally, a eache discussion on he manne o assessmen should be opened be ween bo h
uni e si ies in o de o p omo e mo e c ea i i y in he ways o assess lea ning ou comes. A
p oposal could be o mix he a ie y o e alua ion me hods (po olios, quizzes, long and
sho exe cises, p oblem based lea ning, e c.) in o de o balance ou non-sys ema ic e o s
and a oid subjec i i y. Ano he p oposal may be o ha e ex e nal e alua o s o he inal
exam.
This s udy has some limi a ions such as ha he sample size is small and he analyses a e
ocused only in wo subjec s and only in wo coun ies. Thus, mo e s udies in his line a e
needed o gene alize he p esen indings. Ou u u e esea ch lines will be o inc ease he
sample wi h mo e s uden s, mo e subjec s and mo e coun ies in o de o con as he
ob ained esul s. Mo eo e , i could be in e es ing o analyse he cha ac e is ics o s uden s
acco ding o clus e s o o es di e en ways o assessmen .
5. Acknowledgemen s
This esea ch was pa ially suppo ed by he Spanish Minis y o Economy and
Compe i i eness unde he R&D p ojec In e-R-LICA (The In e na ionalisa ion o Highe
Educa ion in Bilingual Deg ees) o he pe iod 2014-2016 (REF. FFI2013-41235-R).
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