Abstract:

The teaching guides of the subjects that constitute the curricula of the current degree programs in Spanish universities contemplate, within the section dedicated to the evaluation of the subject, the realization of individual and / or group activities that make up the so-called continuous assessment of the subject as well as a final exam that will be done on the official date established by the center.

Both blocks should, in principle, be complementary, so it would be expected that the result of the continuous assessment process would be in accordance with the final exam of the subject. That is, students with good results in the continuous assessment process would be expected to also obtain good results in the final exam. In this sense, the factors that favor good results in continuous learning should also mark a difference, in the same sense, in the final result.

The objective set out in the present work is to confirm these expectations. Specifically, it will be analyzed if those factors that have marked differences in the results of the continuous assessment have also done so in the performance of the students (measured through the final exam of the subject).

The empirical information used corresponds to a significant sample of the students of the Grade in International Business (GIB), offered by the University of Valencia.

In these data, the inferential techniques necessary to achieve the proposed objective are applied. Specifically, the Analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be used, as well as the tests that allow verifying the hypothesis of departure.

The results suggest that, as expected, the factors that marked differences in the results of the continuous assessment also do so, significantly, in the final result. Moreover, the difference follows the same trend. Such is the case, for example, of the factor "pre-university studies", verifying that students who completed high school obtain better results in both the continuous assessment and the final.

Keywords:

Factors, academic performance, ANOVA, continuous assessment, levels, teaching-learning process.