The Impact of Co-Curricular Activity Assessment on Male University Students’ Course Performance: A Case Study of The Natural Sciences Course

Abstract

Our objective was to examine if a co-curricular activity incorporated with assessment methods affected students’ competence in a course. Natural Sciences (201) was chosen as a candidate course for this study. Students’ grade breakdown was examined and analyzed using SPSS and MINITAB software over four academic years from Fall 2012-13 to Fall 2015-16. The number of failed male students was significantly lower (p<0.05) in Fall semesters when compared with the number of failed male students in Spring semesters. A further analysis was attempted as an approach to understand the reasons for the remarkable elevation of success in the Fall semesters. Hence, a questionnaire was given to 121 students and the data showed that the ‘Science Communicators Program’, metaphorically the Science Festival, played a key role in the students’ achievements. The excellence of performance in the Natural Sciences course was detected during the Fall semesters. Thus, this research paper recommends the accommodation of off-campus co-curricular activities in other courses taught at the university.