ERIC Number: EJ1137229
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1675-8110
EISSN: N/A
Simple Weighted Average as an Alternative Method in Aggregating Students' Academic Achievements
Kasim, Maznah Mat; Abdullah, Siti Rohana Goh
Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction, v10 p119-132 2013
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 five teachers from one primary school was asked to rate five main subjects taught in primary schools according to their importance. These five teachers have taught the five subjects for more than six years. The obtained weights values were used to re-compute 2011 mid-semester final 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 findings. Significance: It is argued that the use of the SWA method is more suitable than the simple average method in finding 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.
Descriptors: Weighted Scores, Academic Achievement, Student Evaluation, Case Studies, Evaluation Methods, Foreign Countries, Elementary School Teachers, Elementary School Students, Computation, Scores
Universiti Utara Malaysia Press. UUM Press, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 08010 UUM Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia. Tel: +60-4-928-4816; Fax: +60-4-928-4792; e-mail: uumpress@uum.edu.my; Web site: http://mjli.uum.edu.my/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Malaysia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A