Examining gender effects in different types of undergraduate science assessment

Abstract

The optimum assessment structure measures student knowledge accurately and without bias. In this study, the performance of the first-year undergraduate science students from the University College Dublin was evaluated to test the gender equality of the assessment structure in place. Results of male and female students taking three life science modules were analysed, for two academic years, with assessment structure based on a combination of three types of evaluation: continuous assessment and multiple choice questions (MCQ) exam scored with/without negative marking. We found no significant gender effect associated with performance in continuous assessment, or MCQ exams scored without negative marking. However, a significant bias against females was consistently observed for the same cohort of students in the MCQ exams with negative marking of 0.25 points. This bias was at least partially linked to a gender difference in willingness to guess and preliminary data suggest that it disappears after removal of negative marking from the MCQ exams. Our results support the view of a diverse assessment structure being fairer to the students. Moreover, caution is advised while using negative marking, and regular reviews of assessment strategy should be implemented by higher education institutions to ensure gender-bias free evaluation of students’ performance.

Keywords:

• gender-bias
• undergraduate science assessment
• negative marking

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2019.1645721.

Notes on contributors

Joanna Kacprzyk is an assistant professor in the School of Biology and Environmental Science at University College Dublin. She is an active member of the undergraduate science teaching team. Her primary research interests are cellular stress responses for programmed cell death and survival.

Martin Parsons is a postgraduate researcher in the School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science. He is a member of the undergraduate biochemistry practical teaching team and his research is focused on providing a simple diagnostic test for multiple sclerosis.

Patricia B. Maguire is an associate professor in Biochemistry in the School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science. A major focus of her undergraduate teaching has been stage 1 restructuring while her research looks at the changing messages that platelets carry in inflammatory diseases.

Gavin S. Stewart is an assistant professor in the School of Biology and Environmental Science at University College Dublin. He is the departmental Head of Teaching and Learning, while the primary interest of his research group are the physiological roles of facilitative urea transporters.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by P.B.M. and M.P. were supported by research fellowship award by the School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, UCD.; J.K. was partially funded by ERC-2012-StG311000 grant awarded to Prof. Emma C. Teeling.