?IRREGULARITIES OF CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT TESTS IN CAMPUS

It is true that no one likes tests or examinations because they do pose a challenge hence giving room for critical thinking to find solutions.

Even in a lifetime, tests are inevitable because they do come in differently for instance temptations but the ability to deal with and handle them accordingly lies with us.

In Moi University Main Campus, during a course work at some point, the time for tests come in as Continuous Assessment Tests(CATs) which can be a sit-in CAT, take-away CAT done individually or group CAT done in groups.

Midway in a semester is when the CATs come in and if the lecturer makes up his/her mind to give out a sit-in CAT it’s when the phobia comes in. The major causes include: no attendance or missing lectures, lack of lecture notes whether issued by the lecturer or noted by students while in class and failure of studying.

During the commencement of sit-in CAT, irregularity issues come in. Some students are already armed with micro-pieces of writing detailed with the course contents likely to be examined commonly known as ‘mwakenyas’. They are strategically positioned at the best-known angle, concealed beneath the desks only knowingly to the user.

Another irregularity practice is having an eagle’s eye to see what the next student has written then making duplicate out of it by writing every word of it. Some students who are brave enough under minimal or no supervision peruse over the notebooks seeking for answers to the questions set.

 Other phobic students leave out of the room to look for answers from whatever source, memorize them and then come back informed and resume with the CATs.

Quite a number of students use their smart phones to view the notes from the files which store them or captured notes from their note books and then answer the questions. Others mute their phones and use the search engines to search for an answer while keenly eyeing the supervisor not to be caught.

For the case of group CATs, laxity is seen whereby students fail to show up for group discussion intentionally based on the assumptions that favor will be done for them by including their names on the write-ups indicating that they were participating in the discussion or even sign-up for them.

 Some do gain from such favors but they are eventually caught during presentations as they have no clue of what is under discussion. Others get caught in the final examinations as they fail to approach the question set appropriately yet it was initially their group CAT question.

Laxity and last-minute rush is also seen in response to individual CAT, whereby exact duplicate copies of the original work of some students who did their work are made by photocopying and then they submit.

 Another practice is cut and paste option without rightfully acknowledging the source of information. This is an illegal practice known as plagiarism which is unacceptable in any institution.

Campus students become driven away from the core reason for their being in campus which is to pursue excellence and ultimately became a graduate with outstanding qualifications. Although they can still get on the right track if they are able to focus on their main priority which is to acquire knowledge and brighten up their path to success.