Implications of a formative assessment task on student exam performance

Research evidence suggests that assessment plays a major role in influencing student performance, yet little is known about the influence of assessment in accounting education. Formative assessment, in which learning is not terminated with a score or grade, has received limited attention in the accounting literature in spite of its potential benefits on students’ self-efficacy and motivation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of a voluntary formative assessment task (mid-term practice test) supported with extensive and personalised feedback on student’s final graded performance. The findings show that students who had undertaken the mid-term practice test and received feedback (test group) had outperformed fellow students who did not take the test (control group) in the final examination. The success of formative assessment in enhancing student performance lies in part in the richness of personalised feedback that enabled students to vary learning strategies and correct knowledge deficiencies.