Simple weighted average as an alternative method in aggregating students’ academic achievements

Purpose – It is a normal practice that students’ overall scores are computed by simple average (SA) method which considers all academic subjects as having the same weights or same degree of importance. This paper highlights the application of simple weighted average (SWA) as an alternative method in aggregating students’ academic achievements. The weights of the academic subjects must be determined prior to the use of SWA. Methodology – In a case study, a group of ? ve teachers from one primary school was asked to rate ? ve main subjects taught in primary schools according to their importance. These ?ve teachers have taught the ?ve subjects for more than six years. The obtained weights values were used to re-compute 2011 mid-semester ?nal examination scores of 33 year-six pupils at the selected primary school. Findings – The teachers decided to give different weight to three subjects, but same weights to two subjects. Furthermore, the SWA scores give different ranking to the pupils as compared to the SA scores. Another sentence or two needed here to explain the ?ndings. Signi?cance – It is argued that the use of the SWA method is more suitable than the simple average method in ? nding the overall scores of students’ achievements. The SWA method considers the subjects to have different degrees of importance, as they do in the actual educational context.