Objective:

The paper aims at showing the inefficiency of administrative imposed and overloaded number of assessment exercises in a single semester. This way of proceeding reduces the time dedicated to formative activities. The collected data were also examined in the light of today commercial approach to education.

Methods:

The outcomes of theoretical and practical evaluation exercises are quantitatively and qualitatively compared. The nine groups of the University students of Cuenca were chosen as a sample.

Results:

The legal national regulations are put into test, proving evidence which shows that different types of evaluation measurement are equivalents. This empirical fact invalidates the legal normalizations that promote a greater number of evaluations for the students’ benefit. The results suggest that there is a significant, positive and moderate correlation of the scores obtained in two types of evaluations: theoretical and practical ones.

Conclusions:

Regardless the type of technique used, poor-performance students get low grades, while outstanding students get good results. The excessive number of evaluation exercises undermines the normal development of teaching at the classroom and the propitious students’ autonomous learning.

        · resumen en Español     · texto en Español     · Español ( pdf )