On the problem content of tasks in commercial final and intermediate examinations – results from task analyses

Abstract

One of the aims of initial vocational education and training is to enable graduates to solve professional problems. Curricula – both for vocational schools as well as for in company trainings – therefore include objectives that aim at developing and promoting (complex) problem-solving competencies. For a consistent implementation of these curricular goals, appropriate learning opportunities must be provided. And examinations must be designed in such a way that they measure problem-solving competencies. However, current examination practice has been criticised in this regard for some time now. Criticism is particularly directed at the insufficient linking of curriculum, instruction, and assessment and thus at central aspects of construct validity. This article aims to investigate the extent to which problem-solving requirements are implemented in current examination tasks. For this purpose, we analysed 1,454 tasks from previous examinations for industrial clerks and office management clerks regarding their problem-solving requirements and their proximity to professional problem-solving processes (authenticity, professional relevance). The analysis was carried out within the framework of a qualitative content analysis using deductively formed categories. The findings indicate that the examination tasks do not include many problem-solving requirements and in many cases are not authentic. Written intermediate and final examinations in their current form and in the training occupations considered here therefore only allow limited statements to be made about the extent to which trainees are able to solve professional problems.