1

Students` Perception About The

Summative Assessment Examinations

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to provide information about how elementary school
students’ perception about summative assessments examination they have done in their
schools. This type of research is qualitative research. Data collection were taken by
interviews of 6 students with different levels of intelligence. Based on the overall
analysis, it can be concluded that summative assessment is one of the activities that
makes them anxious and worried. They are afraid they cannot answer questions
correctly.
Keywords : Students’ Perception, Summative Assessment examination

Introduction

Examianation is a tool of evaluation which has important role to measure teaching

learning process. Examination is important parts of the teaching and learning process if
they are integrated into daily classroom teaching and are constructed to be part of the
learning process for the cumulating event. Examination is a test that aims to determine
the ability of a student,as stated by Hughes (2003:13) “a test is intended to measure
students‟ achievement and the degree of success of the teaching learning program”.

Assessment is wide variety of methods or tools that educators use to evaluate, measure, and
document the academic readiness, learning progress, skill acquisition, or educational needs of
students.In a teaching and learning activity, assessment has a very important role. It is
because the assessment has 2 functions, there are formative and summative functions.
Formative function where assessment is used to provide feedback to teachers to be used
as a basis for improving and fixing the learning process and holding remedials for
students. While the summative assessment function is to determine the value of student
learning outcomes in one particular subject so that it can then be used as material in
giving reports, determining the grade increase and also determining the passing or not
of students.
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In This research, the writer choose summative assessment examination as the kind of
assess which administered at the end of a unit or term, semester, or a year of study in
order to measure what has been achieved both individual and by groups. summative
assessment examination is considered to have more prestige than formative assessment
examination for students and schools because of the competition for students and the
quality of the school. The urgency of making this research is to solve students'
problems or obstacles when they will and are facing examination through their
perception about the exam itself. Here,the writer will try to analyze how students’
perception about summative assessment examination.
Literature Review
Much attention has focused on students’ perceptions of assessment and how these
impact on students’ engagement with their learning. Marton and Saljo (1997) were
among the first to highlight a link between what students perceive as the requirements
for success in (summative) assessment and their engagement with learning. For
example, some research suggests that students perceiving assessment as requiring
understanding tend to engage in deep learning (Harlen and Crick 2003). While this link
is not straightforward, and changing assessment may not be sufficient to change the
way students learn (Gielen, Dochy and Dierick 2003; Gijbels and Dochy 2006), it is
clearly important to understand what students think about the summative assessment
they experience. Much of the research in this area has focused on the comparison
between students’ perceptions of assessment methods, focusing for example on multiple
choice tests and essays (Scouller 1998; Zeidner 1987). Indeed Birenbaum (2007) raised
the issue of the importance of research on students’ perceptions of summative
assessment and noted how the underlying issues shaping these preferences had not been
investigated.
A comprehensive review (Struyven et al. 2005) noted that a common feature of existing
literature is that students prefer to be assessed by innovative methods - that is, methods
other than the closed book examination - and by assessment methods that allow them to
accrue marks with less effort (see also Traub and MacRury [1990]). This review
suggests that students perceive traditional assessment as unfair and damaging for
learning as it encourages them to engage with the subject at a very procedural level. The
same review also noted that students prefer to be assessed by innovative assessment
methods (taking innovative to mean non-traditional, especially away from unseen timed
exams) in which they recognise authentic value and which they think will prepare them
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for entering the workplace. Sambell, McDowell and Brown (1997) reported that ‘many
students perceived traditional assessment tasks as arbitrary and irrelevant’ (359) while
they believed innovative assessment to be fairer as it appear to measure capabilities
relative to their studies and encourages them to engage in deep learning.
These studies have contributed to strengthening the calls for the need to reconceptualise
summative assessment in higher education and to move away from the overuse of the
traditional closed book exam. As Brown (2004) states:
Assessment methods and approaches need to be focused on evidence of achievement rather than
the ability to regurgitate information. Inevitably this means a lesser concentration on traditional
written assessments, particularly timeconstrained unseen exams, and a greater emphasis on
assessment instruments that measure not just recall of facts, but also the students’ abilities to use
the material they have learned in live situations. (2004, 82)
Brown argues that the use of innovative methods of assessment will help the students to
engage with deep learning and will prepare them to enter the job market once they
graduate. Indeed many authors have categorised assessment methods according to their
purpose. In particular, there has been a long standing simple split of assessment into
summative and formative which has shifted more recently into the apparent separation
of assessment of learning from assessment for learning. The latter was described by
Black et al. (2004) as
…any assessment for which the first priority in its design and practice is to serve the purpose of
promoting pupils’ learning. It thus differs from assessment designed primarily to serve the
purposes of accountability, or of ranking, or of certifying competence. (p 10).
While the former has a predominant function of certification. Other authors
(Birembaum et al. [2006]) place the emphasis on the richness of feedback associated to
assessment for leaning, the potential to develop students’ autonomy and problem
solving skills and the relation that such assessment has to real life situations. More
recently Medland (2014) suggested that traditional assessment is inadequate and
supports the current testing culture while innovative assessment, if supported by the
right opportunities for students to learn about the new methods, can lead to a true
culture of assessment for learning.
However, these recommendations seem to propose change to assessment patterns
regardless of context: sidelining the nature of the students, the institution in which they
are studying, the subject they are studying and the aims of their study. This
decontextualised approach to assessment research in higher education has lead to
criticism. Joughin (2010) noted that research which does not take into account the
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context may lead to these generalised recommendations which are not supported by
data.
Moreover, there is research which does clearly demonstrate contextual influences on
students’ perceptions of assessment. Furnham and Chamorro-Premuzic (2005) and
Furnham, Batey and Martin (2011) investigated the correlation between IQ, personality
types and assessment preferences and found that there are strong correlations between
some personality traits and preferences for certain assessment methods. Furnham and
Chamorro-Premuzic (2005) report for example that extraverts are positively inclined.
Towards oral examinations while conscientiousness is correlated with preference for
continuous assessment. Findings such as these suggest that it is not feasible to treat the
whole student body as one, and that there are well defined factors which shape
assessment preferences. Furnham and Chamorro-Premuzic (2005) conclude:
Preference for examination method also no doubt related to particular academic discipline. Thus,
arts, social sciences, and sciences might lend themselves to quite different assessment methods.
Science students may favor multiple choice, while art students may prefer essays, and drama
students may strongly favor performance based on oral exams (i.e., vivas). Indeed, disciplinary
differences in the way students are examined tend to vary across institutions. In this sense, what is
taught and how it is taught may be the best predictor of how courses and methods are examined.
(2005, 1989)

Material and Methode

The method of this research is descriptive study.The data were taken from the
interview.The participants consist of 6 fifth grade Elementary School students with
different level of intelegence which comprise 2 high achiever students, 2 middle
achiever students and 2 low achiever students. The aim of this part of the study was to
answer the research question as we set out to elicit what problems that can be influence
students’ perceptions of summative assessment and how they resolved it.

Eglibity Criteria

Inclusion criteria : the students who have done 8 times the middle and final test.
Result
Overall, the students' responses varied about the exam.3 of 6 students said the test was
difficult, 3 students said the test was between difficult and easy.There were several
students who preferred to answer carelessly, some were left blank or do not answer and
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there are those who first ask the teacher directly when there are question that has not
been learned at all by the teacher. Then, they answer with the most difficult subjects in
the exam is mathematics.

Discussion

Based on the result, students tend to feel anxious and afraid on the first day of the exam,
the next day they are getting used to and do not feel burdened except on certain subjects
such as mathematics.6 students respond to their opinions about the exam.3 from
students who say the exam it's difficult is 2 low achiever students and 1 middle achiever
student.Then, 3 students who say between difficult and easy are 1 middle student
achiever and 2 high achiever students.They are afraid that they cannot be able to answer
the test questions.They feel anxious if the time given is not enough to fill the exam
questions,such as mathematics. they prefer multiple choice questions than essays.

Regarding the question why there is difference questions maker between the midterm
and the final test questions is because the final test is formal as an activity agenda in the
education curriculum so making question does by education authority. While the
midterm test is informal, so the making questions does by school.

Conclussion

The people have different qualities, some people can remember things very well, so
when they go into an exam they can do it very well. Some people get nerves, and they
can’t handle an exam. Other people don’t find it quite so easy to write an essay or get it
so that it flows very well, but they can do very well under exam conditions.

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