Examining the concurrent impact of teaching and assessment format on undergraduate students' academic performance in marketing

ABSTRACT

Purpose By focusing on a Greek traditional learning university, during and post Covid-19 restrictions, the study aims at examining the concurrent effects of teaching and assessment format on students' academic performance. The inclusion of case studies in course assessment post Covid-19 restrictions is also expected to give a rough insight into students' employability skills and workplace readiness. Design/methodology/approach The academic performance of 489 undergraduate students, as determined by the grades they earned, was measured in the final exams of business-to-business marketing and integrated marketing communication courses, held in January 2021 and 2022 at a Greek public university. The primary predictor variable or interest was "teaching and assessment format", and took two values (1) online teaching with multiple-choice assessment format (during Covid-19 restrictions) and (2) traditional classroom teaching with in-person case study and open-ended assessment format (post Covid-19 restrictions). Findings Grades were found to be affected by the participants' year of study, the type of marketing course, in which they were examined, and the teaching and assessment format employed. Either in whole or by gender, students appear to perform significantly worse in the traditional teaching with in-person case study and open-ended questions assessment format. Practical implications Good pedagogical practice in the use of digital technology is advised to incorporate diverse teaching tools and assessment methods. Originality/value Examination of the concurrent effects of teaching and assessment on academic performance unveils significant variation in students' academic performance under different formats, which may be attributable to multiple reasons.