Assessing the Assessment Procedures and Grading of Community Based Education/CBE Courses at Jimma University

Abstract

Students’ performance in CBE courses should be evaluated regularly and grades are awarded accordingly. However, assessment and grading procedures can serve their purpose only if they are of good quality. It follows that the quality of CBE assessment and grading schemes should be examined through research so that corrective actions can be taken soon. This study thus investigated the quality of assessment and grading of CBE courses at Jimma University. To this end, data were collected from students (selected from the class of 2012) and academic staff through close-ended questionnaires. The data collected in these ways were analyzed quantitatively using frequencies and percentages. The findings indicated that there were some limitations in the assessment and grading of CBE courses due to lack of awareness among some academic staff members and students about the availability of CBE course assessment guideline, lack of uniformity among CBE supervisors in utilizing the CBE assessment guideline and absence of consistency among supervisors in applying the assessment tools prescribed by the university. Thus, regular awareness raising orientations for supervisors and students, uniform and frequent utilization of the CBE assessment guideline and further studies are recommended to solve these drawbacks.