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 13 Technical drawing
[pages 61 - 63] Introduction

205. Few school courses at present contain the full range of work which might be undertaken in drawing and graphical communication. Most GCE and CSE examinations in this subject remain strongly attached to geometry and mechanical engineering (or building) drawing, which often do not reflect the experiences of pupils either in school workshops or outside the school. Few have widened the opportunities for school study. Most examinations test geometry and engineering drawing by traditional timed tests, and a typical engineering drawing question is likely to make relatively limited demands on an able pupil. However, there has been a slow move by some boards towards introducing short answer questions, more reliance on freehand presentation and assessment of course work.

The evidence

206. Three joint examinations were undertaken in technical drawing. Discussions were held with the MREB/LONDON consortium and with subject interests. Further reference is made by number.

Table 12

The ability range

207. Although entries were small, there is general agreement that candidates of all abilities were represented in all three examinations. Fewer pupils of high general ability were entered, however, and this was particularly the case for 1, where schools apparently continued to enter a number of such pupils for GCE O Level. It is suggested that pupils below the 40th percentile were also entered for 1 and 2.

The syllabus and objectives

208. The working party which developed 1 considered that technical drawing should no longer be confined to building and engineering and that it should be possible to develop a new syllabus beyond the traditional boundaries which gave due importance to the role of graphical communication in a technological society. The syllabus included sections on drawing techniques, related plain and solid geometry, three-dimensional representation, drawing as an aid to creativity, dimensioning, conventional and symbolic representation, and standards for drawing.

209. Scheme 2 was based on very similar GCE and CSE syllabuses, with an opportunity for Mode II and Mode III approaches. Scheme 3 used a common core based almost completely on an existing Mode I CSE syllabus, with Mode II or Mode III approaches available where this did not match the courses in a particular school.

210. Although 1 set appropriate goals for the full ability range and aimed to advance the work of traditional CSE and GCE examinations in doing so, there is some doubt whether the most able are likely to be extended by the work and approach of the other two examinations, which represent current practice. The fact that few able pupils took 1 does not imply unsuitability, rather uncertainty in the minds of the teachers at the time.

The examination and the ability range

211. The assessment techniques for 1 involved two papers and a project topic (20 per cent). Paper 1 (35 per cent) consisted of short and longer answer questions on the 'grammar' of the subject and paper 2 (45 per cent) offered a compulsory section followed by a choice of questions from a wide range of topics. These included three dimensional design related to school crafts, surveying, technical illustration, the use of charts, graphs and diagrams and electrical engineering, in addition to building drawing and mechanical engineering. In general, 1 and 2 emphasised objectivity and candidates were rarely challenged to produce something original. Scheme 2 was covered by two papers (50 per cent in each case). Objective questions were used and the examiners felt that although these were satisfactory some problems remained. Scheme 3 followed a similar pattern. Mode III assessment was done by teachers, moderated by either inter-school assessors or by referring to performance in the Mode I paper 1. Moderation on a larger scale than in the feasibility studies could present some problems.

212. The overall impression remains that when technical drawing is considered in a traditional way there is a problem in catering for the extremes of the ability range. Differentiated syllabuses and assessments were not a feature of the studies but might offer an acceptable answer to this dilemma.

Marking and grading

213. The candidates in each of the three examinations were seen as a continuum and apart from the deduction of marks for presentation in 2 the scheme of marking was positive throughout. Notes of guidance for marking and assessment of the project in 1 were satisfactory. It was suggested that the wider ability range made coordination of the marking more difficult in 2.

Conclusion

214. The tradition of examining in this subject tends to overemphasise lower level responses and thus the examinations are weakest in testing the able, candidates. Typically, questions are set which have a predictable response and candidates are seldom required to describe or explain their own idea in graphical form. However, teachers seemed more sure with the conventional syllabuses for 2 and 3 than with 1, which attempted to alter these traditions. Despite the uncertainty about the syllabus and assessment techniques used with 1, this study still seems to have come nearest to meeting the needs of the whole ability range.

215. Overall, it seems that appropriate assessment within a common system in this area is feasible but is likely to depend on the development of differentiated syllabuses and consequent differentiated assessment techniques for its achievement. It is possible that there is less need for such differentiated assessment if the subject is viewed in a way which allows for a greater amount of individual response to questions.