The impact of continuous assessments on academic performance: a review and synthesis

The academic literature is replete with the term "assessments". Most of the papers focus on different types of assessment and their impact on students' achievements, which are measured, either by learning the content of a subject, or by exam scores, as proxies for performance. The aim of this paper is to determine the role of continuous assessment of subject content, measured by scores in the final exams, or by other means of assessment, that are dependent on continuous skills development (e.g. assignments). The paper uses a literature search of two related terms, namely "assessment" and "performance", and reviews the related keywords and concepts that exemplify academic achievements in various subjects that are predominantly taught in higher education institutions. The key finding of this paper is that continuous assessments improve the academic performance of students most of the time, by engaging them in learning and related activities. The study has implications for incumbent academics that are willing to learn the strategies for improving the engagement of students, for learning the subject content and for attaining ultimate success in their studies. The study also has implications for institutions that are willing to improve the retention of students in subjects perceived to be difficult (measured by their high failure rates), or subjects that are predominantly problem-oriented, such as Statistics, Finance or Accounting