Chief Examiner Research Articles

Evaluation of Impact of UJ-Math Graphing Tool (UJ-MaGT) on Secondary School Students’ Graphing Ability

In recent years, there has been renewed call and effort by Nigerian government to encourage the enrollment of pupils into science, technology, engineering and mathematics; (STEM) subjects. Graph construction is a veritable and indispensable skill required by anyone that engages in a STEM subject. Yet, data from the West African senior school certificate exams (WASSCE) – physics practical – chief examiner’s annual report has revealed serious deficiency in graph construction by secondary school leavers. In an attempt to solve this problem, an app called UJ-Math Graphing Tool (UJ-MaGT) was developed with the aim of incorporating its algorithm in a scientific calculator. The technology was evaluated among 903 senior secondary school students within Jos. Pre-test and post-test were conducted and achievement scores were obtained by grading the test scripts in accordance with West African Examination Council’s (WAEC) marking scheme. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out using SPSS software. Results show that there was no statistical difference (P>0.05) amongst the groups before the intervention, the null hypothesis “There is no significant difference in achievement score and gap before intervention of UJ-Math Graphing Tool (UJ-MaGT) in graph plotting” was retained. Furthermore, the null hypothesis “There is no significant difference in achievement score and gap after intervention of UJ-Math Graphing Tool (UJ-MaGT) in graph plotting” was rejected because there exist a statistical significant difference (P<0.05) amongst the groups after the intervention. It is therefore concluded that the technological intervention has significant impact on the performance of the students in graph construction.

Academic Integrity and Exam Invigilation/Proctoring Risks: A Chief Examiner’s Storied Experiences at a University in Ghana

Academic Integrity and Exam Invigilation/Proctoring Risks: A Chief Examiner’s Storied Experiences at a University in Ghana

The Effectiveness of the “Think-Pair-Share” Cooperative Learning Approach in the Teaching of Mensuration to Senior High School Students

Senior high school candidates’ performance in mensuration over the years has been reported by the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) chief examiner to be very poor. This study investigated the effect of the “Think-Pair-Share” cooperative learning approach on students' academic performance in mensuration in two senior high schools in one municipality in the Northern Region of Ghana. This study’s objectives were to determine: i) the stage at which cooperative learning is most effective in student learning of mensuration ii) the effect of the cooperative learning on Senior High School (SHS) students’ academic performance in mensuration. A pre-test post-test non-equivalent control group design of quasi-experiment was used in this study. The study’s sample was made up of two intact classes of 41 and 43 students for the control and experimental groups respectively. A form two class from each of the two senior high schools in the municipality was selected by simple random sampling technique. A test (Pre-test and post-test) in mensuration was used to collect data for the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that the pair stage of the “Think-Pair-Share” was more effective than the thinking stage. The study also revealed that the cooperative learning approach improved students’ academic performance in mensuration in the municipality. The study concluded that the “Think-Pair-Share” cooperative learning approach is an effective strategy for teaching mensuration and recommended the use of the strategy in teaching mensuration. Teachers should consider examining students in pairs as it is the most effective stage of the approach.

Political Censorship on the Late-Victorian Stage: Rereading Oscar Wilde’s Vera; or, the Nihilist[s]

Abstract The publication in 2021 of the Oxford English Texts version of Oscar Wilde’s Russian melodrama Vera; or, the Nihilist (1883), based, as it is, on new archival research by its editor Josephine Guy, deepens the mystery surrounding the alleged censorship of Oscar Wilde’s first play. While Wilde himself promoted the idea that the expression of democratic ideals in his Nihilist play had prevented its performance in England, a genetic analysis of an early manuscript version of the play (1881) made available in the OET Vera and Guy’s reconstructed play-text of the first performance, problematizes the putative censorship of the play on political grounds. In conjunction with new readings of Wilde’s Poems (1881) and his letters from the period, the genetic analysis that follows crystallizes attendant issues concerning the extent of Wilde’s radicalism at the outset of his career and the nature of his commitment to Irish republicanism per se. Where the Chief Examiner of Plays (E. F. S. Pigott) promoted the idea that there was no political censorship of the theatre at the end of the Victorian period, the examples of the alleged suppression of Wilde’s melodrama and the experiences of his mentor, the Irish playwright Dion Boucicault, at the hands of the British press evince the multiple forms of political censorship and self-censorship that came to shape (and impede) the development of the late-Victorian stage.

Remembering Brian Street and his Work with International Baccalaureate (IB)

I met Brian in July 1978 when I attended the very first workshop for teachers of International Baccalaureate (IB) Social Anthropology (later to become Social and Cultural Anthropology) at the University of Sussex in Brighton, where Brian was then teaching. I’m no longer sure what I was expecting in an IB “Chief Examiner” but having grown up in Oxford, I know I was generally skeptical of academics as knowing much about the ‘real world’ and worried that a Chief Examiner would not be interested in the dynamics of a high school classroom or the perspectives of 16- and 17-year-old students themselves. Nonetheless I was entirely excited to be there - I had loved my first two years of teaching IB Anthropology and was pretty sure that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life! I was very wrong about the Chief Examiner but right about myself. In this paper I remember Brian Street and his role in the International Baccaulaureate.

Is Solution Architecture Compatible with Agile?

Abstract Big design up front is anathema to many agile afficionados, so how can solution architecture and agile work together successfully? Mark Lovatt, Deputy Chief Examiner for Solution Development BCS, explores.

Functional Groups Detection: Do Chemistry Teachers Demonstrate Conceptual Difficulties in Teaching?

The chemistry chief examiner of the West African Examination Council has complaint a lot about the weak performance of students on organic chemistry, including functional group detection. The study, therefore, investigated whether senior high school teachers who teach chemical concepts to students also demonstrated conceptual difficulties on functional group detection under organic qualitative analysis. The study adopted convergent mixed methods procedures to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from 47 chemistry teachers. The 47 teachers were sampled through multistage sampling procedures to respond to the Organic Qualitative Analysis Diagnostic Test for Teachers. The quantitative data was analyzed using means, standard deviations, and percentages to reflect no scientific understanding, partial scientific understanding, and scientific understanding of functional group detection. The qualitative data was open-coded and constantly compared to established teachers’ alternative conceptions and factual difficulties on functional group detection.

Influence of two modes of instructional methods on students’ academic achievement in senior secondary school mathematics in Afijio Local Government Area of Oyo

The increase in the failure rate of students sitting for final year exams, for example, West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in mathematics, is a serious concern to both students, teachers, and parents. A review of the WASSCE results statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics (2016-2018) indicated that the achievement of learners in mathematics knowledge, especially in Oyo State in private senior secondary schools, continued to reduce. For example, the percentage of students who have 5% credits and above, including Mathematics is 24% in 2016, the performance reduced to 16.8% in 2017 while in 2018 the result remained at 17.2% [1]. Also, a review of the Chief Examiner’s comment on students’ weaknesses in general mathematics paper two from (2009-2018) shows that students’ weaknesses are primarily expressed in the areas of circle geometry and its application, word problems, and interpretation of graphs [2]. In dealing with these weaknesses, the Chief Examiner suggested that teachers should use instructional aids in teaching and learning processes, teachers should give more worked examples during class lessons and a more appropriate teaching method be employed. Therefore, this research work was carried out to examine if a change in teaching method will influence students’ academic performance in Mathematics. In this research, the two methods adopted by the researcher are the Traditional (chalk and talk) method and the Montessori (self-discovery) method. The tools used for data collection were Mathematics Achievement Test (M. A. T), interview, and field observation. Analysis of the results gathered revealed that students that were taught using the Montessori method had a cumulative 57.1% pass. In comparison, their counterparts who used the traditional way had an overall 49.6% pass. These findings revealed that participants from the experimental group performed better than students in the control group.

The Bodies

a FICTION The Bodies by Sahar Mustafah Respect the gods, Achilles, and show mercy towards me. –King Priam, Book XXIV, The Iliad W hen they wheel in Hassan, we don’t expect him to join in. Not yet. Each of us has needed time to adjust, to come to grips with the fact that we are no longer alive, yet somehow we continue to inhabit our bodies. He’s rolled to an empty space in the corner; the wheels of his metal stretcher cease their squeaking once the brakes are applied. He’s young, maskeen, so we allow him to cry and whimper for his mother. We listen and refrain from shushing him—at least for the first day. The double doors slam behind the orderlies, a jarring noise that rattles our bones. Muneer recites surat yaseen, and the rest of us respectfully keep silent amid Hassan’s low keening. Soon the room will populate again with the living, the fluorescent lights vaguely illuminating our closed eyelids, a stroke of pale orange. Or perhaps we only imagine it, a childhood memory tugging us back to when we are lying in an orchard, the sun beating down on us, warm mulberries staining our lips. We wait for the clacking of their footsteps across linoleum tiles. Time is a strange matter here, what seems like minutes might be hours, like whey slowly strained through cheesecloth. We can’t make out day from night in this windowless room except when the doors open again and we deduce it’s the start of another workday. Today, the scent of freshly cut lemons trails the heavy footsteps passing each of us. It’s Ustaz Lemon Zest, Ismail says and we snicker. We try to preserve a measure of decorum from our past lives. After all, we are dead—not animals. SLIMAN MANSOUR, RITUALS UNDER OCCUPATION / COURTESY OF THE ARTIST WORLDLIT.ORG 31 COVER FEATURE THE BODIES | BY SAHAR MUSTAFAH Our sense of smell, like hearing, endures, an involuntary reflex, and we’ve come to distinguish the ranking coroners from the others: their monotonous voices as they lecture, their distinct odors—menthol cigarettes and fresh soap—hovering as they pass our slabs. We can speak out to one another in the manner a ventriloquist throws his voice, like an imperceptible twitch of the lips. Once we rediscover our voices we can cast them out like a fishnet, our words and sentences catching across the room. Fuck his mother’s cunt, Ismail adds. Cursing is an unscrupulous habit of his, and we chastise him, though not too harshly . We try to preserve a measure of decorum from our past lives. After all, we are dead—not animals. We’ve come to feel a prickly affection for Ismail, who was tortured to death under arrest. He is stone-silent when the coroner pokes and prods him, announcing to the other examiners where the electric jolts had been administered on specific areas of his body. Young Hassan is temporarily distracted by Ismail’s cursing and stops whimpering. He hasn’t quite let go, but his attention has begun to drift to our conversations. Ustaz Lemon Zest is a chief examiner, we’ve surmised, and leads a small group around the room, permitting the other strangers in his charge to trace their scalpels across our chests and limbs. Spicy aftershave wafts in the air—a new and confident male attendant. And—what is that we detect? A hint of gardenia? We keep quiet, waiting for a woman’s voice to reverberate in our ears even if we can’t understand her words. Lateef, who worked with a legal permit inside Israel, alone can decipher their language. Soldiers shot him ten times in the chest and abdomen near the border. The bus carrying the workers had gotten a flat tire, and Lateef descended to help the driver fix it. He waved his hands at a passing army jeep. The report later claimed he’d charged toward the soldiers with a crowbar . The rest of us listen to his disjointed translations, and we’re content with not comprehending their language—it’s a tiny recompense since we’re unable to drown out...

Ronald O. Ragsdale

Ronald O. Ragsdale, 88, died on Jan. 16 in Salt Lake City. “At the University of Utah, Ron taught more than 50,000 undergraduate students, 4,000 high school students, and 2,000 summer enrichment students. He also mentored more than 100 high school chemistry teachers. His leadership brought the International Baccalaureate (IB) program to the US, and he served as chief examiner for both IB and Advanced Placement programs and helped create the US National Chemistry Olympiad competition. Ron’s passion for teaching was best evidenced by his creation and presentation of numerous chemical demonstrations. These action-packed and often explosive demonstrations were the foundation of his annual Faraday Christmas Lectures. Ron and his wife, Eileen, founded the Ragsdale Scholarship Endowment Fund, which provides scholarship support for chemistry majors and teaching awards, as well as the Ronald and Eileen Ragsdale Endowed Chair in Chemical Education.”—Tom Richmond, friend and colleague Most recent title: Professor emeritus,

Effects of think-pair-share on senior school students’ performance in mathematics in Ilorin, Nigeria

The performance of Nigerian students in the Senior School Certificate Mathematics Examinations over the years has not been encouraging. Studies have indicated that this is partly due to students’ lack of in-depth knowledge of some selected topics in mathematics. Pieces of evidence abound in literature and WAEC Chief examiner’s reports indicating that students performed poorly in set theory with Venn diagram. Therefore, this study examined the effects of think-pair-share on senior school students’ performance in mathematics in Ilorin, Nigeria. The objectives of this study were to examine: (i) the performance of students’ taught set theory using think-pair-share cooperative instructional strategy; (ii) the difference in the performance of students taught using think-pair-share instructional strategy based on gender and score level; (iii) the influence of think-pair-share instructional strategy on students’ retention in set theory. The researcher employed a quasi-experimental design for the study. The sample consisted of 118 SS II students. The instruments used for the study was Mathematics Performance Test (MPT). The instruments yielded reliability values of 0.78 using Pearson Product Moment Correlation procedure. The data collected were analyzed using independent sample t-test, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Findings of the study showed: (i) a statistically significant difference in the performance of students taught set theory using think-pair-share compared with their counterparts in the control group in favour of think-pair-share group, (ii) no statistically significant difference in the performance of male and female students taught set theory in Mathematics using think-pair-share; (iii) no statistically significant difference in the performance of students taught set theory in Mathematics using think-pair-share based on scoring levels; and (iv) a statistically significant difference in the knowledge retained by students taught set theory in Mathematics using think-pair-share compared with their counterparts in the control group in favour of think-pair-share group. The study concluded that the use of think-pair-share improved students’ performance in Mathematics, gender of a student does not affect his or her performance in Mathematics, and the use of think-pair-share improved the retention ability of the students. It was recommended among others that the use of think-pair-share be encouraged for teaching and learning of Mathematics at all levels of education.

The Changing Role of the BA

Abstract Debra Paul, out-going chief examiner for the BCS Busniness Analysis certification scheme, tells Johanna Hamilton AMBCS how business analysis has evolved and where it is going in the future.

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In memoriam: Professor David J. Campbell, 1963-2017

PurposeThis tribute is in memory of Professor David Campbell, who sadly died in June 2017. David was an influential and inspirational global researcher in accounting. This tribute summarises his significant contribution to the discipline as well as providing insights into his career at Northumbria and Newcastle Universities.Design/methodology/approachThe tribute provides a review of David’s research and his key publications in accounting. Specifically, his invaluable contribution to social and environmental accounting disclosure and related corporate accountability is highlighted.FindingsDavid was a hugely popular personality in the accounting research discipline and he will be missed by colleagues and friends across the world. His insightful research, thinking and engaging personality led to enduring friendships and significant collaborative research publications. David was a great supporter of international conferences at which he actively encouraged and nurtured research by others around him.Research limitations/implicationsDavid leaves a legacy of influential publications in accounting that have shaped the discipline and have helped develop solid foundations for rigorous future research in the area.Practical implicationsDavid’s research had significant practical implications with regard to the usefulness of voluntary accounting disclosure narrative to stakeholders. As well as highlighting the policy implications in relation to corporate disclosure, his work contributed to the debate concerning the accountability and ethics of organisations. Beyond research, David was also influential in professional accounting education as ACCA chief examiner for “Governance, Risk and Ethics”, embedding these issues into the curriculum.Social implicationsThe tribute highlights David’s global collaborative research friendships and their fruitful publications. He will be a huge loss to those people and others who knew him closely, as well as to the accounting community in general.Originality/valueDavid enhanced the discipline as we know it and through his work will continue to shape the discipline in years to come. David had a love for research and for others whom he knew through it.

Curriculum reform in Irish secondary schools – a focus on algebra

Algebra has long been identified as an area of difficulty in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Evidence of this difficulty can be found in Irish secondary-level classrooms. Chief Examiner Reports have consistently identified algebra as an area of student weakness in State examinations. In light of poor student performance, and as part of a nationwide reform of secondary mathematics curricula, a functions-based approach to teaching algebra has been adopted in Irish schools. It was introduced in September 2011 in place of the transformational (rule and procedure)-based approach which was previously used. Through comparing the diagnostic test scores of incoming students in an Irish university in the years before and after the reform, this study finds that the reformed approach has coincided with a decline in students’ technical algebraic skills. However, interviews with practising mathematics teachers reveal that this decline is not a direct result of the functions-based approach, but rather of a mixture of approaches being implemented in classrooms. Such divergence of approaches can be linked to the common mismatch between the intended curriculum prescribed by policy-makers and the implemented curriculum that is actually carried out by teachers in their classrooms.

The Chief Examiner Role in Pre-University Anthropology: personal reflections

This article draws on the author's experience as both an A level and an IB Chief Examiner to compare these roles within the AQA and the IB and discuss their demands. She reflects on their different institutional cultures, the nature of assessment and curriculum development and the responsibilities placed on examiners.

Profile: Anne Fuller

Anne Fuller has been an Institution chief examiner, has designed challenging buildings all over the UK, and is now director of Capita's civil and structural engineering division in the North. She discusses her career with Jackie Whitelaw and wonders whether talking to girls at school is really all we have in our armoury in the battle to increase diversity in the profession.

Glass (a pseudonym) v Chief Examiner

Glass (a pseudonym) v Chief Examiner

GP trainers are invited to observe college exam, RCGP says

GP trainers are being invited to observe groups of candidates taking the membership examination for the Royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP), the college’s chief examiner has said. Speaking at the conference of the British Association of Doctors of Indian Origin (BAPIO) in Manchester on Sunday 30 November, Pauline Foreman, the royal college’s chief examiner, said that she hoped to rebuild confidence in the exam. The rate of failure in the exam was found to be much higher among ethnic minority candidates …

The Effective Teaching and Learning of Biodiversity in Advanced Level National Biology Curriculum (9190), Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe

The study presents findings on the effectiveness of the teaching and learning of the topic biodiversity a component of the Zimbabwean Advanced level Biology curriculum (9190) in Masvingo. The main goal of this study was to identify the methods employed by the teachers when teaching the topic Diversity of organisms and factors that affect their effectiveness in the teaching and learning of this component as well as establishing the challenges faced by ‘A’ level biology teachers during the teaching and learning of this topic. The data gathering procedures involved ‘A’ level biology lesson observations, document analysis of ‘A’ level biology teachers’ schemes and records of work, past examination question papers from ZIMSEC and chief examination reports for the period 2003-2005. Questionnaires were administered to ‘A’ level biology teachers and students. The Zimbabwe School Examination Council (ZIMSEC) National Chief Examiner for Biology Curriculum 9190/2 was interviewed. The qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis were employed. The results obtained indicated that the teaching and learning of biodiversity was not very effective. Findings from the lessons observed and the interviews carried out to the Heads of Science Departments showed that the majority of the strategies used in biodiversity teaching were not student-centred. Very few schools were found to involve field trips when teaching this topic. The study recommends that ‘A’ level biology teachers from each province establish ‘A’ level biology peer coaching teams to help each other on the diversity of organisation. Workshops on how to prepare fieldtrips as a teaching strategy should be organized and carried out.