USE OF CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT TESTS AS A LEARNING TOOL IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

Our university has conducted an adaptation pilot project to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). This project expects, among other things, that students will adopt an independent and active attitude regarding to the planned activities to be developed, instead of just being passive recipients of knowledge.

This new education system involves a change in the way of developing the teaching work, focusing on teaching how to learn. It does not limit to a transmission of knowledge, but also to organize academic activities aimed to encourage the students to acquire knowledge, skills and abilities. In this context, the Continuous Assessment Tests (CAT) were developed.

By continuous assessment the learning process is valued, starting from continuous monitoring of the work developed and the knowledge acquired by the students, so the modifications needed to optimize the process and to improve the results obtained can immediately be introduced.

The skills to be achieved, or the educational objectives proposed in a curriculum must be evaluated. The procedures and techniques established to assess the level of acquisition and learning progress of students can be very different. We have used the CAT in a virtual environment with immediate feedback.

The aim of this study was to stimulate learning through the use of virtual learning resources, self-assessment and continuous evaluation of students, and establish a monitoring progress and an appropriate use of feedback. The specific objectives were: to promote the use of Continuous Assessment Tests (CAT), to assess its effectiveness in the virtual context and to establish objective criteria, depending on its evaluation, in the presentation of CAT in order to optimize the student learning.

Methodology
CAT consisted of a set of test questions, multiple choice, short answers, and true or false questions, with feedback on each question and at the end of the test. CAT was carried out at the end of each of the themes of teaching programming. We used the following indicators to measure improvements: - Rate of return: percentage ratio between the number of students who passed the subject by students enrolled in the course. - Success rate: percentage ratio between the total number of students who have passed the subject of students who have enrolled and the number of students submitted for assessment. - Success rate of students who have completed CAT: percentage ratio between the total number of students who have completed the CAT and have passed the subject and the total number of students who have completed the CAT. - Participation rate: percentage ratio between the number of students who have completed a minimum number of activities planned (70%) compared to the number of students of the subject.

Results
CAT are ideal tools for student learning in the context of the European Higher Education Area. Considerations arise with their use.