The effect of assessments on a telematics course for Telecommunication Engineers

This paper studies the effect of including continuous assessments in the methodology of an introductory Telematics course for Telecommunication Engineers. Seven academic years were evaluated, corresponding to a total number of 364 students. Whereas the methodology of the first three years was based only on lectures and lab activities, the last four years included assessments (e.g., problem resolution, information searching, reports, tests, etc.) as an integral part of the students´ final scores. Through statistical analysis, results reveal that there is no significant difference in the pass rate between years with assessments and years without assessments, taking into account all students enrolled in the course. However, there is a significant (statistical) difference in the fail and dropout rates. On the other hand, if only students who did not dropout the course are taken into account, then there is a significant (statistical) difference in the pass rate comparing both methodologies: including the assessments increased the pass rate from 53% to 72%. Nevertheless, no differences were found in the average final grades obtained by the students with either methodology. Regarding the students´ gender, the effect of the assessments was higher for male students than for female students.