Examination Results

[homealone]

The idea for this thread was prompted by a remark made here

I started to reply & realised I was

anyway...

an examination, in my opinion, is a benchmark, each entrant should be treated equally for any result to be meaningful.

thus the suggestion that dyslexic people, for example, should have more time, for GCSE & A Level examinations, is not realistic, in my view.

Apologies to anyone here with dyslexia, I sincerely mean no offence, it is just I feel if we are going to measure, then let us measure - not feel the need to patronise by offering concessions...

- there are other benchmarks, after all

[Florence]

Well with the English AQA papers going to India we might aswell cancel all GCSE's IMPO these being split and sent to India devalues the GCSE

[punky]

Originally Posted by homealone

The idea for this thread was prompted by a remark made here

I started to reply & realised I was

anyway...

an examination, in my opinion, is a benchmark, each entrant should be treated equally for any result to be meaningful.

thus the suggestion that dyslexic people, for example, should have more time, for GCSE & A Level examinations, is not realistic, in my view.

Apologies to anyone here with dyslexia, I sincerely mean no offence, it is just I feel if we are going to measure, then let us measure - not feel the need to patronise by offering concessions...

- there are other benchmarks, after all

None taken. I am dyslexic (I am guessing a few have probably already noticed by some of my un-proofread posts).

I rarely used my extra time, but that was because I was just faster than average.

What you say is a fair point, but then again... If someone is short-sighted, would you deny them glasses to help them read? Dyslexia is for the most part just extra time so you can correct your (inevitable) mistakes. Exams are there to measure intelligence, so the extra time doesn't make a difference. You aren't marked more lientiently, and correcting written mistakes doesn't make a wrong answer any more right. You could argue the extra time gives you more time to think of a better answer, but you already get quite a lot to do the paper with, so I doubt 15 mins per hour would make a difference. Besides, if you spend all your checking time writing a 'perfect' answer, then you aren't checking it - with all the mistakes they'd make, they aren't gaining anything.

It is a disability. For years going through school, I made so many 'stupid' mistakes, and I thought I was just really thick, but it turned out a disability causing that - it wasn't my fault at all. There is a bit you can do to help, but its not much. It still blights me. I make some really silly writing mistakes, and on quite a few occaisons, I have mis-red someone causing a bit of embarassment.

I agree homealone.

I also find coursework to be frustratingly unfair. There is so much plagiarism that goes on it's unbelievable. It is especially annoying when other students have family advantages, e.g. their dad is a physicist/half-french/doctor, and they get them to help them with the coursework! which I have seen happen.

Nowadays there are guides you can buy which basically feed you the A* material straight away, especially for English/English literature, which is also frustrating.

I say, scrap coursework

In fact the whole education system needs to be reformed IMO, I'm sick of being taught exam technique and how to pass the exam, I just wanna learn more aspects of my actual subject

[homealone]

Originally Posted by Kits

Well with the English AQA papers going to India we might aswell cancel all GCSE's IMPO these being split and sent to India devalues the GCSE

That involves the papers being sent to India for some kind of sorting process, then being sent back, IIRC.

In my opinion the 'GCSE' was born 'devalued', anyway, as it was the result of an attempt to show better results in secondary education. When results for the GCE O' Level tailed off, the CSE was introduced & later they were both merged into the GCSE.

Even when O' Levels were around they were mucking about with the grading, the 'London' board exams we did, had grades E, C, A, no B's or D's there, then..

A 'Grade 1' CSE was considered equivalent to a 'pass' grade at O' Level.
__________________

Originally Posted by punky

None taken. I am dyslexic (I am guessing a few have probably already noticed by some of my un-proofread posts).

I rarely used my extra time, but that was because I was just faster than average.

What you say is a fair point, but then again... If someone is short-sighted, would you deny them glasses to help them read? Dyslexia is for the most part just extra time so you can correct your (inevitable) mistakes. Exams are there to measure intelligence, so the extra time doesn't make a difference. You aren't marked more lientiently, and correcting written mistakes doesn't make a wrong answer any more right. You could argue the extra time gives you more time to think of a better answer, but you already get quite a lot to do the paper with, so I doubt 15 mins per hour would make a difference. Besides, if you spend all your checking time writing a 'perfect' answer, then you aren't checking it - with all the mistakes they'd make, they aren't gaining anything.

It is a disability. For years going through school, I made so many 'stupid' mistakes, and I thought I was just really thick, but it turned out a disability causing that - it wasn't my fault at all. They is a bit you can do to help, but its not much. It still blights me. I make some really silly writing mistakes, and on quite a few occaisons, I have mis-red someone causing a bit of embarassment.

thanks for such a brilliant reply, I really didn't want my post to be taken the wrong way, in fact I didn't mean to single out dyslexia as any particular example, either. However, it was convenient for the main thought behind the thread of being realistic about how me measure achievement.

I would never have guessed, if you hadn't said

[bmxbandit]

Originally Posted by Diamond

I also find coursework to be frustratingly unfair. There is so much plagiarism that goes on it's unbelievable. It is especially annoying when other students have family advantages, e.g. their dad is a physicist/half-french/doctor, and they get them to help them with the coursework! which I have seen happen.

wow, what course do you do? i'm in mech eng, and plagiarism isn't very common and generally useless anyway...as for getting help, knowing when to ask is somethng that has to be learned at some point. if you're not doing your own work, it'll show through with exams in the end.

Originally Posted by Diamond

In fact the whole education system needs to be reformed IMO, I'm sick of being taught exam technique and how to pass the exam, I just wanna learn more aspects of my actual subject

do you go to a private school by any chance? i apologise if that sounds like a derogatory question, but in my experience they're much much worse when it comes to this...

coursework still has a place, but exams are the real leveller.

[punky]

Originally Posted by homealone

thanks for such a brilliant reply, I really didn't want my post to be taken the wrong way, in fact I didn't mean to single out dyslexia as any particular example, either. However, it was convenient for the main thought behind the thread of being realistic about how me measure achievement.

I would never have guessed, if you hadn't said

You're welcome mate.

Taking dyslexia out of the picture for a minute, the government do seem to be shifting away from the traditional intelligence based assessment to , so those who aren't as gifted like that, aren't shunned from the system. One key example is them embracing vocational courses, etc.

[homealone]

Originally Posted by Diamond

I agree homealone.

I also find coursework to be frustratingly unfair. There is so much plagiarism that goes on it's unbelievable. It is especially annoying when other students have family advantages, e.g. their dad is a physicist/half-french/doctor, and they get them to help them with the coursework! which I have seen happen.

Nowadays there are guides you can buy which basically feed you the A* material straight away, especially for English/English literature, which is also frustrating.

I say, scrap coursework

In fact the whole education system needs to be reformed IMO, I'm sick of being taught exam technique and how to pass the exam, I just wanna learn more aspects of my actual subject

I agree we need to reform the system, one idea would be to go back to slide rules & log tables, algebra & geometry, calculus & triginomentry....learn to read phonetically, back to basics, basically

[kronas]

the problem i find is that in this society there is alot of profanity and 'slang' being portrayed to be 'cool' how are standards going to increase ?

teachers dont simply have enough time to help individuals and those that have a vairying degree of learning paces within a class.

you have to tackle grass roots problems before even attempting to change the GCSE or any other form of examination problem.

[bmxbandit]

Originally Posted by homealone

I agree we need to reform the system, one idea would be to go back to slide rules & log tables, algebra & geometry, calculus & triginomentry....learn to read phonetically, back to basics, basically

sod all that, concentrate on basic arithmetic! the number of people at uni who really have problems with this is deeply worrying...

[homealone]

Originally Posted by punky

You're welcome mate.

Taking dyslexia out of the picture for a minute, the government do seem to be shifting away from the traditional intelligence based assessment to , so those who aren't as gifted like that, aren't shunned from the system. One key example is them embracing vocational courses, etc.

Vocational is a good way to go, I think. The old apprentice schemes were so good it is a tragedy they have gone. One company near me used to train loads of Instrument Technicians, Pipe Fitters, Electricians, etc with college back up - also all the lab staff were sent on 'day release' courses appropriate to their role.....

Some kind of alliance - and realistic assessment system, needs to evolve between industry & the education sector, of the same calibre, again, in my opinion
__________________

Originally Posted by bmxbandit

sod all that, concentrate on basic arithmetic! the number of people at uni who really have problems with this is deeply worrying...

some still struggle when they have their degree, in my experience, percentages, anyone

but spot on what i mean, how can you get to university if you cannot do basic maths

[Damien]

Coursework needs to stay, one problem is the presumption that exams mark intelligence which isnt always the case (IMO)

[homealone]

Originally Posted by kronas

the problem i find is that in this society there is alot of profanity and 'slang' being portrayed to be 'cool' how are standards going to increase ?

teachers dont simply have enough time to help individuals and those that have a vairying degree of learning paces within a class.

you have to tackle grass roots problems before even attempting to change the GCSE or any other form of examination problem.

the main point of the thread is measuring things realistically, one thing I will concede is that this may lead to 'labelling', but, even then, the previous approach of the 'special' school, was available, but not now...

[Damien]

I dont see a problem with the ways things are measured, people have more time to level the field if they have a disability that can affect there work. Punky expressed this well, they are not having an advantage. They are just getting rid of a disadvantage

[homealone]

Originally Posted by Damien

Coursework needs to stay, one problem is the presumption that exams mark intelligence which isnt always the case (IMO)

exams don't establish intelligence, they establish the potential to learn in a particular fashion, I agree with you on that - 'coursework' assessment is largely down to your teacher, presumably....