Cumulative assessment system: design, approbation and application results

The article discusses the issues of developing and testing a cumulative system for evaluating individual achievements of university students, which is a special case of a point-rating assessment system widely used in Western countries. An analysis of the literature describing various aspects of the design and application of such assessment systems shows that, along with their obvious advantages, there are also a number of disadvantages. To eliminate them, the authors design a cumulative assessment system that allows taking into account the points received by the student for completing the current work in the semester not as a mandatory component of the final assessment of the discipline, but as an addition to the points received by the student during the exam/test. The points received by the student in the semester and on the exam/test are summed up and translated into traditional grades «excellent», «good», etc., while the total score may exceed the maximum established final score of 10 points. To apply the developed assessment system, the authors have compiled a table posted in the electronic information and learning environment of the university at the beginning of the semester with detailed explanations of the rules for awarding points for each unit of current work. On the day of the interim certification, the report card is supplemented with the points obtained on the exam. The total score is calculated, which is converted into a traditional score. Such a scheme of action ensures full transparency and objectivity of the assessment procedure. The article also presents the results of the approbation of the assessment methodology developed by the authors. The conducted pedagogical experiment shows that the use of a cumulative assessment system leads to a steady improvement in the quality of students' knowledge, in particular, the final total score in the experimental group exceeded that in the control group by 12,18 %.