Abstract:
The study examined the influence of students’ perception of classroom
assessment practices on their learning approaches at senior high schools in
Sefwi Wiawso Municipality. Five research questions were explored with two
hypotheses. The descriptive survey research design was employed. A total
population of 4514 students were identified for the study. The study included a
sample size of 357 participants, however only 260 completed replies were used
to analyse the data. Questionnaires (i.e., SPAQ and Revised Approaches to
Studying Inventory) were adapted for the study. Permissions were sought from
the appropriate quarters at every stage of the data collection and all data
collected from responses were kept confidential. The data collected were
analysed with descriptive statistics (i.e., means and standard deviations) and
inferential statistics (i.e., MANOVA and multivariate multiple linear
regression). It was found that, with the exception of student involvement which
was a positive significant predictor of students’ use of surface learning
approach, none of students’ perception of assessment practices substantially
predicted their use of a learning approach. It was concluded that the students
were consulted or involved in assessment task decisions, the more likely they
were to employ the surface learning approach. Teachers in the Sefwi Wiawso
Municipality are encouraged to desist from involving students in assessment
task decisions since it leads to the employment of the surface leaning approach
or rote learning
