A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS' ASSESSMENT COMPETENCIES BASED ON PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATION

Abstract

Assessment competencies are an important aspect of effective teaching and learning in higher education that determines the outcomes of students, the quality of instruction, and the level of academics. The objective of this study was to empirically study assessment competencies of university teachers in Punjab, Pakistan, and compare professionally trained and non-professionally trained teachers on five grounds planning, administration, scoring and grading, reporting results, and instructional decision-making. The quantitative, comparative research design was chosen, and the data were gathered through a self-designed Assessment Competencies Questionnaire (ACQ) on 120 teachers (60 professionally qualified and 60 non-professionally qualified) in two randomly selected universities of the public sector. The findings have shown that teachers portrayed moderate to high competencies in total, with the best competency being the administration of assessments, and the worst competency being instructional decision-making. Administration and reporting results showed greater performance of professionally qualified teachers over non-professionally qualified teachers and no significant differences were detected in planning, scoring and grading, or instructional decision-making. These results indicate that professional qualification is an enrichment of some assessment skills, whereas it is necessary to supplement weak areas and optimise the application of assessment data to instructions through specific professional development programs.