Comparison of alternatif assessment techniques such as concept map and tree diagram with classic techniques in terms of student success

An effective education requires the use of correct techniques during the course for the successful evaluation and assessment of the success levels of the students. In recent years the assessment techniques were rearranged according to the new programs in the frame work of the renovation and modification work on the educational programs and these new techniques began to take their places in the educational activities carried out in the schools. Whether these new techniques, also named as alternative assessment techniques, are more effective than the classical techniques in the assessment of the success level of the students is an issue which requires further investigation.The aim of this study is the comparison of concept maps and tree diagrams techniques newly entered to the secondary education curricula with the conventional techniques and reveal any statistical difference between them as regards to the evaluation of the academic success levels of the students.There were to classes arbitrarily chosen from the 9th grade of the secondary education as the experimental and control groups. The pre test applied to the students before the start of the study revealed that the groups were statistically equivalent. Both groups were subjected to a course plan based upon constructivist approach and they were evaluated by the use of different assessment techniques in order to determine whether there were any differences stemmed from the use of different methods.Data analysis using SPSS package program were done with İndependent Samples t Test and Mann Witney U test. The data obtained showed that there were no differences at the level of 0.05 significance level between the students assessed by the use of alternative and conventional assessment methods. However there was a statistically significant difference between the tree diagram scores of the students and number of correct answers given in the conventional method.