Effects of modularity, certification session and re-sits on examination performance

Rodeiro, Carmen Vidal; Nádas, Rita

doi:10.1080/0969594x.2011.614218

Cited by 12 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Thus, our results are in line with most of the previous descriptive and correlational literature that estimated a positive association between modular education and student achievement in general and pre-university education (Taverner & Wright, 1997;Vidal Rodeiro & N adas, 2012). Modular education has been widely used in vocational education and training programmes Effect of modular education on school dropout 113 based on the premise that it reduces the school dropout rate significantly.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Lately, modular education has been gaining popularity as a dropout prevention policy in secondary education. Finally, the results obtained by Vidal Rodeiro and N adas (2012) suggest that the association of modular education and student achievement depends on the course. With the completion of each module, a partial certificate is granted which can subsequently be used in the labour market to gain employment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

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The effect of modular education on school dropout

Mazrekaj

Witte

2019

British Educational Res J

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Modular education refers to the division of conventional courses into smaller components or modules. Each module enables students to obtain a partial certificate that can be combined into a qualification. This article evaluates whether modular education, which is widely used in secondary and tertiary education, has been effective in reducing school dropout. For this purpose, the study exploits a policy change in the Flemish Community of Belgium, which recently introduced modular education for some programmes. Using a difference-in-differences framework with diverse adoption dates per school, the results indicate that modular education may significantly reduce school dropout by 2.5 percentage points, with the largest effects on foreign origin students. Therefore, modular education is likely to be an effective policy to tackle school dropout and reduce the ethnic attainment gap. Additionally, students enrolled in modular education are more likely to be employed and to incur higher earnings on the labour market.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

The effect of modular education on school dropout

Mazrekaj

Witte

2019

British Educational Res J

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“…Similar findings were reported by Vidal Rodeiro and Nádas () for GCSE mathematics. They analysed results from one examination board, finding that students who resat units typically improved their marks on the second sitting.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Furthermore, as the modular GCSE mathematics syllabuses were phased out, the cohort of students entered for these syllabuses became less disadvantaged and had higher prior attainment. Vidal Rodeiro and Nádas () also found that modular GCSE mathematics attracted students with higher prior attainment.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 89%

The SES equity gap and the reform from modular to linear GCSE mathematics

Moira

Meadows

Baird

2019

British Educational Res J

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This article addresses whether the introduction of end‐of‐course, linear General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations changed the socio‐economic equity gap in England. The GCSE is a national examination offered in a wide range of subjects and taken by almost the entire 16‐year‐old age cohort. Between the years 2007 and 2014, it underwent a number of reforms to both the underlying curriculum and the examination structure. At the beginning of the period, examinations were primarily modular in structure where the course was decomposed into discrete units tested in a staged manner. By 2014, all GCSE examinations were linear and the whole course content was tested simultaneously when study was complete. These structural changes and the curriculum reforms mean that the impact of modular and linear testing on the performance of students has been the focus of recent interest. Some educational commentators suggested that modular examinations are more suitable for lower‐performing students, including those with lower socio‐economic status (SES). This research has been conducted to monitor the socio‐economic equity gap in the light of the structural changes. It focuses on GCSE mathematics and concludes that, although there is still a clear gap in attainment between disadvantaged students and their peers, this gap does not seem to be exacerbated by the examination structure. In other words, the linearisation of GCSE mathematics is unlikely to have increased inequity between students of high and low SES.

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“…Those who were positive about linear courses argued that all topics contribute to a larger body of knowledge and understanding, and so to perform to their full potential, it is useful to wait until the entire course has been taught before being assessed as then 'you get a good idea of your whole subject' (FG6, Wales). In line with the research of Hayward and McNicholl (2007) and Vidal Rodeiro and Nádas (2012), these students argued that linear courses were more cohesive than modular courses, allowing students to make connections between different aspects of their subjects.…”

Section: Gcse Structures: Modularity Vs Linearitymentioning

confidence: 66%

Young people’s views on choice and fairness through their experiences of curriculum as examination specifications at GCSE

Barrance

Elwood

2018

Oxford Review of Education

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This paper presents data that considers ways in which young people experience the curriculum through the lens of subject examination syllabuses (for GCSEs), their associated assessment techniques and structures and educational policies at national and school level concerning subject choice. Drawing upon an original qualitative dataset from a mixed-methods study of students' views and experiences of GCSE from Northern Ireland (NI) and Wales, the paper explores students' perceptions of choice and fairness in relation to studying various subjects at GCSE. Factors of importance are the subjects available to them through subject option selections at the school level and the ways in which GCSE courses are then administered. In relation to notions of choice and fairness, the paper considers how students see access to the curriculum moderated by national and school level decisions regarding the assessment of GCSEs; the extent to which assessment techniques such as tiering, controlled assessment and modularity, as well as school-level policy decisions about timing of entry to GCSEs (known as early entry) all combine to restrict students' access to the full range of subjects and influence the ways in which they experience these subjects as curricula within their particular school settings.

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Effects of modularity, certification session and re-sits on examination performance

Cited by 12 publications

References 6 publications

The effect of modular education on school dropout

The effect of modular education on school dropout

The SES equity gap and the reform from modular to linear GCSE mathematics

Young people’s views on choice and fairness through their experiences of curriculum as examination specifications at GCSE

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