PREDICTING ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING SCORES FROM KNOWLEDGE OF ENTRY SCORES IN MATHEMATICS: THE CASE OF MERCY COLLEGE OF MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE (MCMLS) MAKURDI BENUE STATE

Abstract

The study predicted Medical Laboratory Science students assessment of learning scores from the knowledge of their entry scores in Mathematics. The purpose of the study was to determine students' of Mercy College of Medical Laboratory Science (MCMLS) entry assessment and assessment of learning (summative assessment) mean scores at the end of the first session for two sets which stands as their final Mathematics results in the college. Two research questions guided the study and one null hypothesis was formulated and tested. The study adopted ex-post facto research design. The population of the study was 350 students. A sample of 78 students was drawn for the research using simple random sampling technique. The Researcher adopted Mathematics achievement scores for both entrance and their summative scores. Mean and Standard Deviation were used to answer the research questions while t- test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that various students' scores exhibited a higher predictability factor. Likewise, unit gains on entry assessments demonstrated a statistically significant indicator for academic achievement on high summative assessments. It was therefore concluded that the entry scores have positively predicted students' performance on their summative assessment scores in Mathematics in the college. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that entry assessment was imperative so as to reveal, if after exposure to the contents there will be improvements in achievements for proper placement and remediation programmes of the students before they proceed to the next stage.