CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT PRACTICES AND STUDENTS' RETENTION RATE IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY

Abstract

The paper focuses on the classroom assessment practices commonly adopted by Lecturers in some Nigerian Universities and how students' retention rate is affected vis-à-vis national security. The paper adopted survey design as a method of data collection. Simple random sampling procedure was used for selecting sampled Universities for the study and descriptive procedures were used in analysing collected data. The paper identified classroom assessment practices commonly used by University Lecturers to include formative and summative assessments, individual, group and ipsative assessments as well as referencing assessments. Issue of zero score in assessment was found to be largely responsible for poor retention rate and high drop-out rate among University students with the resultant effect on increasing level of societal crimes and threat to national security. The paper therefore, concludes that since national security implies the preservation of the nation's physical integrity and territory including its nature, institutions and governance, as a matter of policy, necessary steps should be taken to ameliorate the aspect(s) of classroom assessment practices that expel students from the universities and constitute threats to national security. The paper recommends that there should not be zero in classroom assessment in line with the doctrine of comprehensiveness in assessment. Again, students should be exposed to a variety of assessment activities that give meaning to formative evaluation including the use of creative assessment, classroom observation, peer assessment, and self-assessment.