Waddell (1978)

Notes on the text

Part I

Preliminary pages Contents, Membership
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Educational matters
Chapter 3 Structure of the examining system
Chapter 4 Cost
Chapter 5 Conclusions
Appendices

Part II

Preliminary pages Contents, Membership

Report of the Education Study Group (ESG)

Glossary, Introduction
Chapter 1 Feasibility of common exam system
Chapter 2 English
Chapter 3 Mathematics
Chapter 4 Science
Chapter 5 History
Chapter 6 Geography
Chapter 7 Modern languages
Chapter 8 Classics
Chapter 9 Commerce
Chapter 10 Social science
Chapter 11 Religious studies
Chapter 12 Craft design and technology
Chapter 13 Technical drawing
Chapter 14 Home economics
Chapter 15 Needlecraft and dress
Chapter 16 Art
Chapter 17 Music
Chapter 18 Further work
Appendix A List of witnesses
Appendix B Questions
Appendix C Statistics
Appendix D Joint examinations

Report of the Cost Study Group (CSG)

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Costs in 1976
Chapter 3 Costing a common system
Chapter 4 Changeover costs
Annexes

Report of the Steering Committee established to consider proposals for replacing the General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level and Certificate of Secondary Education examinations by a common system of examining

Chairman: Sir James Waddell CB

Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Education and Science and the Secretary of State for Wales by Command of Her Majesty July 1978

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1978
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Part I: Cmnd 7281-I
Part II: Cmnd 7281-II

Part II - ESG Report

Chapter 5 History
[pages 35 - 39]

Introduction

104. History uses data from the past. It seeks to make pupils aware of evidence, and to give them a sense of the different nature of bygone ages, a knowledge of cause and effect in human affairs, and some sense of identity with those who lived in the past. It is concerned with change through time and with understanding the present through an appreciation of the past. It relies heavily on narrative and the use of literary skills. It requires the development of attitudes and interests by the student as well as abilities and skills. As the scope of history is vast, there is a wide range of syllabuses.

105. It would be no less necessary to have a range of syllabuses under a common system of examining. History examinations should assess the capacity to abstract information from primary and secondary sources, to analyse and synthesise information relevant to an argument, and to communicate the conclusions reached whether in writing or in speech. Reliance must be placed on tried techniques which include traditional essay-type questions, objective tests, oral examinations, projects and course work. With regard to sources it is recognised that work on documentary evidence from medieval or earlier English history or from the history of another cultural group, can raise particular problems of transcription.

The evidence

106. The evidence available was the set of joint examinations and discussions held with consortium 1 and with subject interests. The numbers of candidates involved in the consortia examinations were as follows. Reference is subsequently made by number as indicated.

Table 4

The small scale inquiry undertaken by Cambridge/SWEB has not been taken into account since syllabuses and evidence of objectives were not received. Apart from a small follow-up investigation of multiple choice testing, the London/Middlesex study ceased after the 1974 examination. Thus the most recent data come from schemes 1 and 2, which involved operational examinations and made use of history content already taught and tested in existing O Level and CSE examinations. Scheme 3 studied the effectiveness of different examining techniques, for example objective tests and projects. It used the content in common in the existing O Level and CSE syllabuses concerned but no operational examinations were set after 1974.

The ability range

107. Scheme 3 covered small numbers of candidates mainly drawn from the middle ranges of ability. The content selected suggests a degree of bias in 1 towards the more able and in 2 towards the less able. In 1976 a report on 2 suggested that candidates from outside the target range of ability were being entered. Whilst it seems that candidates of different ability levels were not present in proportion to the numbers taking the present O Level and CSE examinations, it is probable that the full range of ability under consideration has been covered in the joint examinations.

The syllabus and objectives

108. Two of the schemes (1 and 3) identified different levels of objectives which accord in general with those indicated in the introduction to this chapter; the objectives of 2 appear to be more narrowly conceived. The content examined in all three schemes is similar to that in existing O Level and CSE syllabuses. The individual schemes covered:

Scheme 1: Modern British History 1867-1964, an area now chosen by schools taking both O Level and CSE examinations. This study with its broad objectives represents a forward-looking attempt to combine the historical content of O Level and CSE for a wide ability range.

Scheme 2: British Social and Economic History from 1700 to the present day, The study makes use of a core section from 1700 to 1850 with eleven optional topics from 1850 to the present. A project of not more than 3,000 words is required. The study is essentially concerned with knowledge of a given body of facts although one aim of 'understanding historical material' goes somewhat beyond this.

Scheme 3: Modern World History, restricted to eight post-1919 topics. The consortium found differences in the popularity of topics between boys and girls and between O Level and CSE candidates. Of these differences the latter may indicate a problem to be overcome in the selection of content for new examinations under a common system.

110. The two operational studies appear capable of providing a basis for further study at sixth form level, and in further education.

The syllabus and the examination

111. The examinations and the assessment techniques employed sampled the syllabuses in a balanced way. In 2 the emphasis on factual recall, albeit modified to some extent by the inclusion of a special study attracting 20 per cent of the assessment, could limit the opportunity for the candidates to display their understanding and could thus act to the detriment of the more able. The same features were evident, although to a lesser extent, in 3. On the other hand, the increased stress on reading common to all three studies will certainly have militated against the less able. Both these factors emphasise the importance of further investigation of techniques on the lines of the now discontinued scheme 3.

112. No clear picture emerges of the balance between the external examination and internal assessment (of course work or project, with the possibility of oral examination). Originally all three studies included project work, but of the two continuing beyond 1975, 1 found it necessary to replace the project with a 'prepared essay'. The consortium nevertheless indicated disquiet at this development, as the prepared essay and the tighter time schedule it imposed on candidates seemed likely to handicap the less able candidates for whom the examination was already posing problems. Scheme 3 was sceptical of the value of project work although this may have been a criticism of the standards permitted rather than of the intrinsic value of the technique. In contrast, a closely controlled project of limited length continues to be an essential part of 2. The strength of the case for including a project rests on whether, and the extent to which, it may sample qualities unassessed by other methods, particularly 'affective' qualities such as interest in and attitude to the work; and on whether it can provide additional information to help assess the performance of candidates across the ability range. From this point of view the evidence did not afford a strong case for including the assessment of a project as part of the examination. Further work would be needed to show whether it is a desirable addition to other methods. A similar conclusion may be drawn for oral examining.

The examination and the ability range

113. Both operational schemes 1 and 2 found difficulty in catering for candidates over the ability range under consideration. For example, the 1975 report of the Oxford board on experimental examinations in history and other subjects drew attention to 'the evidence that certain parts of the examinations were too hard for the weaker candidates while the overall demands made failed to stretch those in higher ability ranges'; and to the concern felt about the accuracy of discrimination among candidates at the top end of the ability range.

114. Difficulties relating to the less able are described in a report of 1976 (2): for example 'two apparently contradictory tendencies were noted ... On the one hand there was an improvement in the number of above average scripts, whilst, on the other, there were more very weak candidates.' Schools were evidently entering many candidates for whom this form of examination was inappropriate. Further problems for less able candidates arose from the design of papers, from the degree of reading involved, the need to be familiar with objective tests, to comprehend some multiple choice questions and, in the case of 1, the 4+ hour length of the examination.

115. Evidence from the studies about the discriminating power of different techniques in relation to the ability range is conflicting. On the one hand, 1 indicates that for testing of knowledge a carefully constructed multiple choice test of adequate length can discriminate over the whole range. A report of 2 concluded that its objective and structured questions 'discriminated fairly well across the whole ability range' and that the special study was similarly effective although the correlation of the results with those of the written papers was low. On the other hand, 3 concluded that overall the multiple choice test and the oral and teacher assessment were less efficient than the written papers in discriminating between candidates.

116. Some of the difficulties of examining across the whole ability range under consideration arose from the fact that the joint examinations all employed papers intended for all candidates (ie they were 'common examinations'). In any extension of the examination consideration should be given to the use of overlapping papers or to a common core paper with alternatives. It is likely that these, or similar approaches, will form a necessary part of a common system of examining in history.

Marking and grading

117. The instructions to examiners show that considerable thought has been given to detailed schemes and standardisations of marking. The reports of the studies take the view that acceptable distributions of marks were achieved. Differences of view were expressed however in 1 as to whether decisions on grade boundaries for abler candidates were satisfactory. This concern was not echoed in the report on 2, which stated that 'decisions on grade boundaries were reached without undue difficulty'.

Conclusion

118. A common system of examining history at 16+ has been shown to be feasible. The objectives and content of the syllabuses used in the joint examinations were comparable in general to those of existing examinations, although the objectives of one study were narrower than some good existing practice. Candidates were entered over the full ability range now taking O Level and CSE but although the evidence did not show whether candidates at either end of the ability range were represented in proportion, coverage of the ability range may be regarded as sufficient to support the conclusions of this chapter. In the joint examinations examining techniques employed, although used successfully in other subjects, did not prove wholly adequate to meet the demands of assessing the range of ability concerned. Many of the difficulties arose because the schemes adopted a common examination, but the evidence also shows that project work, use of primary sources, oral examining and multiple choice questions all requires careful attention and refinement if they are to be more widely employed. Techniques such as objective tests, structured questions and essay questions are used in both the GCE and CSE examinations, although the degree of difficulty and range of materials differ. There is also some evidence available from a system of examination based on a common syllabus from the Schools Council's 13-16, History Project. It is particularly interesting that in this system one paper concerned with the use of documentary evidence is being reviewed with a view to its introduction as a common paper.

119. We consider that the following points should guide the further work that would be needed in developing syllabuses and patterns of assessment during the period leading up to the introduction of a common system of examining:

i. alternatives to the common examination should be developed and made available under a common system with consideration given to the use of overlapping papers, or of a common core paper with alternatives;

ii. if projects and oral examining are to be widely employed, arrangements should be made to ensure that further work is undertaken during the preparatory period to overcome the difficulties brought to light in the joint examinations.