The Impact of Coursework on Degree Classifications and the Performance of Individual Students

This paper uses data from the transcripts of students graduating from a modular degree course to explore the effects of coursework on several aspects of performance within modular degree programmes. Studying the effects of coursework using students' profiles allows the effects of different assessment methods to be linked directly with degree classifications. Coursework assessment is found to increase students' mean levels of achievement and reduce the variation between individual students' achievements, both of which influence degree classifications. As in previous studies, the impact of coursework assessment on mean performance was found to differ between disciplines. The effects of coursework assessment on other important aspects of performance are studied for the first time: for example, coursework is found to increase the consistency of the marks recorded within individual transcripts. This paper also identifies statistically significant variations in the responses of individual students to different forms of assessment, showing that the effect of coursework assessment on performance varied from one student to another, with a tendency for students with low mean levels of achievement to be more disadvantaged by examination assessment. This complicates the question of fairness to students in courses where different programmes of modules can lead to the same award.