An analysis of the alignment of the Grade 12 Physical Sciences examination and the core curriculum in South Africa

Edwards, Nazeem

doi:10.15700/saje.v30n4a389

Cited by 20 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…These results are similar to the findings of many studies in the literature (Azar, 2005;Çepni, Özsevgeç, & Gökdere, 2003;Edwards, 2010;Karamustafaoğlu et al, 2003). The questions of large scale examinations affect the students' mind because the students get prepared for the examination by studying the questions of the previous years and their similar.…”

Section: Discussion and Conclusion About Lde Science Questions' Alignsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The results of these examinations provide some clues about the strengths and weaknesses of the countries' education systems. Moreover, these international assessments contribute to the education reforms of the countries (Edwards, 2010). Turkey does not have a good ranking among the countries of organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in PISA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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The Association of Intended and Attained Curriculum in Science with Program for International Students Assessment

Çìl¹,

Çepni²

2014

IES

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International examination results have already influenced many countries to make radical reforms in education system. According to these results countries have been categorized as high, middle and low achievement in education. Turkey has also taken these results into consideration quite seriously and started to investigate to what extent there are similarities among the nationwide examination questions and the international examination questions. This paper presents the findings obtained from the analysis of intended and attained curriculum in Turkish science context. Secondly, the paper analyses Level Determination Examination science questions according to Piaget cognitive development theory. Finally, the paper discusses the differences and similarities between the science questions in Level Determination Examination and Program for International Students Assessment. The results reveal that most Turkish students could not attain learning outcomes in intended curriculum. Level Determination Examination science questions are usually compatible with formal operational abilities of Piaget's theory of cognitive development and they are highly similar with the questions of Program for International Students Assessment.

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Section: Discussion and Conclusion About Lde Science Questions' Alignsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Association of Intended and Attained Curriculum in Science with Program for International Students Assessment

Çìl¹,

Çepni²

2014

IES

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“…This shows that New York physics materials, despite having high alignment, did so at a low cognitive level, whilst Singapore materials demonstrated testing at a high cognitive level despite low alignment. Edwards [8] also conducted an alignment study between the Grade 12 Physical sciences examination in 2008 and 2009 and South Africa"s core curriculum and found average alignment indices of 0.783 for Physics and 0.628 for Chemistry. The alignment index for Physics was determined to be significant at the 0.05 level based on the critical value (0.78) shown by Liu et al [2], whilst that for Chemistry was lower than the critical value and not significant.…”

Section: Previous Research On Alignment Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An important measure to understand the effectiveness of such content delivery and its assessment is the alignment of a curriculum with its objectives and assessment outcomes. Such studies have been carried out in United States [5][6][7] in Africa [8,9], in China [10][11][12] and in Singapore [13] and have assisted policy makers and curriculum and assessment developers to enhance their materials coherence and consistency. This paper seeks to explore such alignment in the physics curricula and examination materials in the two previously unresearched contexts of Myanmar and South Australia in comparison with previously carried out alignment studies (from New York, China and Singapore).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alignment between the Learning Objectives and Examinations: A Comparative Analysis of High-School Physics Curricula in Myanmar and South Australia

Matthews¹,

Kyi²

2019

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The purpose of this study is to analyse and compare the alignments of the Myanmar and the South Australian high-school physics curricula in relation to their respective learning objectives, learning outcomes and examinations. In both instances curricula from the completing year of high-school are examined: the Grade 10 Physics curriculum in Myanmar, and the Year 12 Physics curriculum in South Australia. 2018 materials, those most recently available, have been used for both Myanmar and South Australia. A slightly modified Porter"s alignment model is used to analyse curriculum alignment with objectives and assessment. The Myanmar physics curriculum demonstrated an alignment index with outcomes and examination of 0.58 and in the case of South Australia, the alignment index was 0.53. Both alignment indices were significantly lower than the critical values (0.839) and (0.884) at the 0.05 level. Most objectives and questions over-represented lower level cognitive skills. In Objectives: Remember (35%) and Understand (51%) for Myanmar, and Understand (54%) and Apply (31%) for South Australia; in Examinations, Remember (49%) and Apply (33%) in Myanmar and Understand (24%) and Apply (49%) in South Australia. Concerns are raised over diminished expectations of, and for, student success and discussion given on issues of validity in learning outcomes and assessments. Recommendations are then made to adjust and improve the alignment of materials used the two contexts of physics instruction.

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“…The curriculum statement for this certificate leaves quite large areas open for teachers to interpret. Furthermore it appears to cover even more content than the curriculum in previous years, 28,29 thus creating a situation in which teachers might need to rush quickly through material in order to complete the syllabus superficially. This situation can result in learners simply plugging numbers into an equation.…”

Section: Student Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

The first-year augmented programme in Physics: A trend towards improved student performance

Chetty

2014

S. Afr. J. Sci.

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Amidst a critical national shortage of qualified Black graduates in the pure and applied sciences, the University of KwaZulu-Natal has responded to a call from government for redress by launching the BSc4 Augmented Physics programme. In this paper, the methods employed to foster learning and to encourage student success in the Mechanics module of the Augmented Physics programme are described and discussed. The use of problem-based learning and a holistic learning policy that focuses on the emotional, physical and knowledge development of the student seems to have yielded higher throughput in the first semester of an undergraduate programme in Physics. Furthermore, the results point to an increase in the conceptual understanding of the student with respect to Mechanics. When appraising this success, the results of the 2007-2009 cohorts, with and without teaching interventions in place, were analysed. These initial analyses pave the way for a course designed to benefit the student and improve throughput. These methods are not unique to Physics and can be adapted for any module in any country.

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An analysis of the alignment of the Grade 12 Physical Sciences examination and the core curriculum in South Africa

Cited by 20 publications

References 0 publications

The Association of Intended and Attained Curriculum in Science with Program for International Students Assessment

The Association of Intended and Attained Curriculum in Science with Program for International Students Assessment

Alignment between the Learning Objectives and Examinations: A Comparative Analysis of High-School Physics Curricula in Myanmar and South Australia

The first-year augmented programme in Physics: A trend towards improved student performance

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