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A selection of articles - Introduction
Green, S. (2011). Introduction. Research Matters: A Cambridge University Press & Assessment publication, A selection of articles (2011) 1.
In the first article the Evaluation and Psychometrics team marked Cambridge Assessment’s 150th anniversary by looking back at question papers over the years. They describe some of the educational and social changes that have affected students over time and illustrate them through changes in question papers from seven subjects. Elliott continues the historical theme in her article on the examination of cookery from 1937 to 2007. Her work provides insights into how the subject has evolved over the years.
In her article on critical thinking Black takes us to a more ‘modern’ area of study. She engages with a challenging area of assessment in the context of a subject that has proved difficult to define and to measure. She discusses the construct of critical thinking and engages with some of the debates over the last forty years during which interest in this area has increased.
Shiell et al.’s article reports on research into modern processes and the influence of marking mode on outcomes and processes. Developments in technology have led to changes in marking processes with examiners marking digitally scanned copies of examination scripts on screen rather than the original paper documents. This research investigates some of the consequences of this shift and is important in answering fundamental questions about onscreen marking in the context of extended writing.
An influential research review is reported in the article on the effect of birthdate on performance. The review from Oates, Sykes, Emery, Bell and Vidal Rodeiro provides robust evidence from around the world that, on average, the youngest children in their year group at school perform at a lower level than their classmates. The review detailed in this article was released to the press in February 2009. It was widely reported in England and received attention in other countries, including China. At the same time it was submitted as evidence to the Rose review of primary education which, as part of its interim report, had recommended that all children should start formal schooling at the age of four (rather than five, as is currently the case).
The final article from Elliott and Johnson reports on research into the nature of spelling errors and whether certain spelling errors were particularly common and how they related to spelling conventions, as taught in schools. In their work they discuss the implications of their findings for teaching and literacy policy.
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Assessment instruments over time
Elliott, G., Curcin, M., Johnson, N., Bramley, T., Ireland, J., Gill, T. & Black, B. Assessment instruments over time. Research Matters: A Cambridge University Press & Assessment publication, A selection of articles (2011) 2-4. First published in Research Matters, Issue 7, January 2009
As Cambridge Assessment celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008 members of the Evaluation and Psychometrics Team looked back at question papers over the years. Details of the question papers and examples of questions were used to illustrate the development of seven subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Geography, Art, French, Cookery and English Literature. Two clear themes emerged from the work across most subjects - an increasing emphasis on real-world contexts in more recent years and an increasing choice of topic areas and question/component options available to candidates.
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Cookery examined – 1937–2007: Evidence from examination questions of the development of a subject over time
Elliott, G. (2008). Cookery examined - 1937-2007: Evidence from examination questions of the development of a subjects over time. Research Matters: A Cambridge University Press & Assessment publication, A selection of articles (2011) 5-10. First published in Research Matters, Issue 6, June 2008
This paper describes the evolution of a subject - cookery, later known as home economics and food technology - over time, as seen from the perspective of examination questions. The historical background to the examinations is explored, and examples given from examination questions through the years.
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Critical Thinking – a tangible construct?
Black, B. (2007). Critical Thinking - a tangible construct? Research Matters: A Cambridge University Press & Assessment publication, A selection of articles (2011) 11-13. First published in Research Matters, Issue 3, January 2007
This article introduces some of the debates about defining the construct of Critical Thinking and some of the implications for assessment of Critical Thinking.
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Extended essay marking on screen: Does marking mode influence marking outcomes and processes?
Shiell, H., Johnson, M., Hopkin, R., Nadas, R. and Bell, J. (2011). Extended essay marking on screen: Does marking mode influence marking outcomes and processes? Research Matters: A Cambridge University Press & Assessment publication, A selection of articles (2011) 14-19. First published in Research Matters, Issue 7, January 2009
Research into comparisons between how people read texts on paper and computer screen suggests that the medium in which a text is read might influence the way that a reader comprehends that text. This is because some of the reading behaviours that support comprehension building, such as seamless navigation and annotation of text, are not easily replicated on screen.
Additional research also suggests that reading long texts can be more cognitively demanding on screen, and that this extra demand can have a detrimental effect on how readers comprehend longer texts. In the context of examination marking, there might be concerns that such a mode-related effect might lead to essays being marked less accurately when marked on screen compared with when they are marked on paper.
To investigate further the potential links between marking mode and the outcomes and processes of extended essay marking, the current project replicated an earlier study (Johnson and Nádas, 2009), replacing GCSE essays with longer Advanced GCE essays. The current project considered three broad areas of enquiry, exploring mode-related influences on (i) marking outcomes, (ii) manual marking processes and (iii) cognitive marking processes.
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'Happy Birthday to you'; but not if it's summertime
Oates, T., Sykes, E., Emery, J., Bell, J.F. and Vidal Rodeiro, C.L. (2009). Research Matters: A Cambridge University Press & Assessment publication, A selection of articles (2011) 20-21. First published in Research Matters, Issue 8, June 2009
For years, evidence of a birthdate effect has stared out of qualifications data for the United Kingdom; summer-born children appear to be strongly disadvantaged. Whilst those responsible for working on this data have tried to bring public attention to this issue, it has been neglected by agencies central to education and training policy.
Researchers at Cambridge Assessment have had a long interest in the birthdate effect because it is so readily observable in the assessment data with which they have worked. More recently, Cambridge Assessment decided to review the issue with the intention to advance the understanding of the extent and causes of the birthdate effect in the English education system. Although the review focuses on understanding the birthdate effect in England, it uses international comparisons as one means of throwing light on key factors. This article outlines the findings of the review.
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All the right letters – just not necessarily in the right order. Spelling errors in a sample of GCSE English scripts
Elliott, G. and Johnson, N. (2009). All the right letters – just not necessarily in the right order. Spelling errors in a sample of GCSE English scripts. Research Matters: A Cambridge University Press & Assessment publication, A selection of articles (2011) 22-27. First published in Research Matters, Issue 7, January 2009
For the past ten years, Cambridge Assessment has been running a series of investigations into features of GCSE English candidates’ writing – the Aspects of Writing study (Massey et al., 1996, Massey et al., 2005). The studies have sampled a fragment of writing taken from the narrative writing of 30 boys and 30 girls at every grade at GCSE. Features investigated have included the correct and incorrect use of various forms of punctuation, sophistication of vocabulary, non-standard English, sentence types and the frequency of spelling errors. This paper provides a more detailed analysis of the nature of the spelling errors identified in the sample of work obtained for the Aspects of Writing project from unit 3 (Literary heritage and Imaginative Writing) of the 2004 OCR GCSE examination in English. Are there certain types of spelling error which occur more frequently than others? Do particular words crop up over and over again? How many errors relate to well-known spelling rules, such as “I before E except after C”?
The study identified 345 spelling errors in 11,730 words written, and these were reported in Massey et al. (2005), with a comparison by grade with samples of writing from 1980, 1993 and 1994. It was shown that a considerable decline in spelling in the early 1990s (compared with 1980) had been halted, and at the lower grades, improved.
Since then, we have conducted a detailed analysis of the 345 misspelled words to see if there is evidence of particular types of error. Each misspelling has been categorised, and five broad types of error identified. These are sound-based errors, rules-based errors, errors of commission, omission and transposition, writing errors and multiple errors. This paper will present a detailed examination of the misspellings and the process of developing the categorisation system used. A number of words – woman, were, where, watch(ing), too and the homophones there/their and knew/new are identified as being the most frequently misspelled words. Implications for the findings upon teaching and literacy policy are discussed.
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