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Improving the ability of qualitative assessments to discriminate student achievement levels

Jeffrey Chi Hoe Mok (Centre for English Language Communication (CELC), National University of Singapore, Singapore)
Anita Ann Lee Toh (Centre for English Language Communication (CELC), National University of Singapore, Singapore)

Journal of International Education in Business

ISSN: 2046-469X

Article publication date: 5 May 2015

302

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the use of blind marking to increase the ability of criterion-referenced marking to discriminate students’ varied levels of knowledge and skill mastery in a business communication skills course.

Design/methodology/approach

The business communication course in this study involved more than 10 teachers and 350 students each semester. Data were collected from four semesters of assignment grades to compare the distribution of grades in semesters that used blind marking and in the one that did not (the control group). The standard deviations of marks for each assignment were calculated and compared.

Findings

Findings show that blind marking contributed to a wider spread of marks. The study concludes that blind marking, when implemented together with criterion-referenced marking rubrics, can improve the ability of qualitative assessments to discriminate student achievement levels.

Originality/value

Research in the use of criterion-referenced marking rubrics has revealed that assessing with marking rubrics resulted in a wider range of marks awarded because assessors felt that the rubrics helped them make more objective judgments of students’ work (Kuisma, 1999). By this token, it could be argued that because blind marking allows more objective judgment of students’ work (by reducing rater bias), it seems to reason that marks might be awarded on a wider range of the marking scale. However, current literature on blind marking and grade/mark dispersion has yet to reveal a study on whether blind marking is able to increase the spread of marks, and therefore, indicate that an assessment instrument is effective is discriminating a range of student achievement levels. This paper should add to the current research on higher quality of educational assessments.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors of this paper acknowledge the support and permission given by the Centre of English Language Communication (CELC) at the National University of Singapore to conduct this study. The access rights to the students’ grades, marking rubrics and consent have been duly sought and obtained.

Citation

Mok, J.C.H. and Toh, A.A.L. (2015), "Improving the ability of qualitative assessments to discriminate student achievement levels", Journal of International Education in Business, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 49-58. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIEB-12-2013-0048

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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