GCE Advanced Level Research Articles

Impacting factors and degree of influence on the selection of ICT subject in GCE Advanced Level

Education in Sri Lankan education focuses on accelerating the country’s knowledge economy by producing skilled and knowledgeable people who suit present-day needs. Moreover, society wants universities to produce graduates, and of course, those graduates must be employable. Meanwhile, job opportunity is guaranteed for job seekers skilled in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) nowadays. Thus, the Sri Lankan government introduced a new stream “Technology” in the year 2015 as an educational reform. The success level of this government initiative should be measured in an acceptable form for further improvements. The most productive way to measure success measuring the interest of students in ICT on GCE A/L, and the factors that influence it. This study was conducted to examine the factors fluencing ICT subject selection by GCE Advanced Level students and to find out the degree of influence of each factor. The coastal region area of Ampara district of Sri Lanka was covered as a sample population for our study. Data to find out the influencing factors were collected by having One on-One interviews with four categories of stakeholder groups, namely principals or deputy principals, teachers, students, and parents, and prepared a questionnaire with these factors and distributed among the A/L students from different schools to gather their opinions from 266 respondents to find out the degree of influence of factors using the convenience sampling technique. Later, the answers to the questionnaire were analyzed by a statistical data analysis tool which shows that the family income, awareness programme, other main subjects in A/L, and the results of mathematics, English, and ICT subjects in O/L are affecting the ICT subject selection in A/L, meanwhile the results says that gender, parents’ education, and previously followed ICT related courses are not having relations in A/L ICT subject selection, and it revealed the degree of top encouraging factors such job market, opportunities in higher education, and getting high z-score and discouraging factors such lack of resources available in the medium, having no relevancy with other main subjects, and lack of interest in IT.

The effect of Z-Score on Year Grade Point Average (YGPA) and Final Grade Point Average (FGPA) in Faculty of Engineering, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU)

A collection of 182 Intake 35 day scholar undergraduates who had followed the Local GCE Advanced Level examination from the Faculty of Engineering, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU), was selected. Data was collected from the several departments and units of KDU. The Grade Point Average (GPA) was considered the scale of a student’s academic performance in the study. A descriptive analysis was performed to differentiate the configuration of the data and the relationship between the Year Grade Point Average (YGPA), and Final Grade Point Average (FGPA) variables with the Z-Score. Spearman and Kendall rank correlation tests were performed in the analysis. The results indicated that the Z-score has a comparatively strong positive relationship with student’s performance at the university in their first year and the class selection.

Factors Affecting Unemployment Duration of the Science and Arts Stream University Graduates in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has a significant youth unemployment problem. In the recent years, a more serious problem is graduate unemployment. Therefore, Sri Lanka needs to develop appropriate policies to decrease the duration of unemployment. In this regard, research is required to determine the factors that affect unemployment duration of graduates in order to provide the policy makers with solid foundations for their decision-making processes. Globally several studies have investigated unemployment duration of graduates. Up to date, no study has been done in Sri Lanka that thoroughly investigates the unemployment duration of graduates in Sri Lanka. Thus, the main aim of this research is to identify the factors that affect the duration of unemployment in the Science and Arts stream graduates in Sri Lanka. A survival analysis was conducted to determine how the considered factors affect the duration of unemployment among the Science stream graduates. Due to the nature of the information gathered in relation to the unemployment duration of the Arts stream graduates, an ordinal logistic regression was applied to identify the significant variables of unemployment duration of the Arts stream graduates among the variables considered. The findings of this study show that the Semi Parametric Cox Proportional model is appropriate to determine the relationship between graduates' time taken to obtain the first job and explanatory variables. According to the analysis, the gender, the type of the degree, the job category (private or government sector jobs) and the results of the GCE Advanced Level General English subject have a significant impact on unemployment duration of Science stream graduates. For the Arts stream graduates, the family income, the professional courses followed by graduates during their academic years at the university and the participation in extra-curricular activities while in the university were found to be significant.

Urban consumers’ attitude towards organic food in Sri Lanka

This research investigation aims to examine the urban consumers’ attitude towards organic food, and the factors affecting for their attitude. A consumer survey consisting of a sample of 600 consumers was conducted, using a pre-tested questionnaire, in major cities of six main districts of Sri Lanka during November 2016 - May 2018. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis. Results revealed that majority of the consumers were married females. Most of them were of 18-40 years of age category and were educated up to the GCE advanced level. The sample’s monthly income ranged from Sri Lankan Rupees 58000 – 85000. Although the majority of the consumers (75.2%) were aware of organic food, only 11.5% possessed a good knowledge about them. As per the mean analysis, the consumers had a positive attitude towards most aspects of organic food. According to factor analysis, four factors (environmental factors, quality factors, health factors, and marketing factors) were extracted as they are influenced to the consumer attitude for purchasing of organic foods. Results of multiple linear regression analysis revealed a positive relationship between consumers’ attitude and the extracted four factors which were based on the consumers’ attitude on purchasing of organic foods. Main problems faced by consumers in buying organic food were the high price, unavailability of organic food, lack of trust, and lack of market information on organic food. It can be concluded that by providing the necessary conditions such as arranging better marketing facilities with useful market information, a continuous supply of organic foods with reasonable price levels, and enhancing consumer knowledge, will motivate the consumers to purchase more organic food. As relatively low is known about consumers’ purchasing pattern of organic foods in Sri Lanka, findings of this study would be beneficial to the traders and policy makers to formulate effective strategies designed to marketing of organic foods in the country. JEL CODE: Q13 ARTICLE IN PRESS!

Determinants of consumers’ purchase intention for local organic food in Urban Sri Lanka

Organic food marketing has currently become one of the most developing markets around the world, including Sri Lanka. Thus, the main aim of this study was to recognize the determinants of the purchase intention for local organic food among urban Sri Lankans. A consumer survey was conducted covering capital cities of six urban districts in Sri Lanka; Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Kandy, Kurunegala, and Rathnapura using a sample of 600 consumers, from December 2016 to May 2018. Out of the 600 consumers, only 114 were purchasing organic food by that time, and those 114 consumers were chosen as the sample for this study. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and multiple linear regressions were used as data analysis techniques. According to the results, majority of the respondents belongs to the 31-45 year age category. While most respondents had an education up to GCE Advanced Level, significant percentages of respondents were educated up to graduate and post-graduate levels. Also, most of the respondents received a monthly total income in between Sri Lankan Rupees 85,001 and 162,000 (approximately US dollars 473 – 900). Although one-fourth of the consumers are purchasing organic food at that time, a higher number is willing to buy them in future. As per the principal component analysis, health and environment consciousness, certification of organic food, marketing aspects of organic food, common parameters of organic food, awareness on the value of organic food, and market availability of organic food were the extracted determinants. The results of multiple linear regressions revealed that market availability, common parameters of organic food, and health and environment consciousness are the dominating variables of the purchase intention of organic food consumers. Thus, expanding the market conditions for organic food, establishing a better marketing system, conducting effective food awareness programs, and value addition for organic food are the identified timely essential recommendations.
 JEL CODE: Q13, Q19

Biology Teachers’ Perception of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) in the G.C.E Advanced Level Biology and Students’ Academic Performance in the South West Region of Cameroon

The study “Biology Teachers’ Perception of MCQs in the GCE Advanced Level Biology and Students’ Academic Performance in the South West Region” was carried out to examine the views of Advanced Level Biology teachers on the use of MCQs, an innovation in the GCE Examination since June, 2009. The study made use of the survey design. The research questions were as follows: (1) To what extent do Biology teachers master the construction of MCQs? (2) To what extent does the use of MCQs provide Biology teachers with a better means for assessing student learning than the use of short-answer structural questions? (3) How is the use of MCQs in Advanced Level Biology helpful in the attainment of instructional objectives? (4) What constraints do Biology teachers experience in constructing MCQs? (5) To what extent do Biology teachers feel adequately involved in the making of decisions with respect to the use of MCQs? The instrument used to collect the data was the questionnaire made up of 37 close-ended questions. A sample of 183 Advanced Level Biology teachers in the Fako, Manyu and Meme Divisions of the South West Region took part in the study. Out of the 183 copies of the questionnaire administered, 183 were returned, giving a percentage returned of 100%. Data were analyzed descriptively using simple and relative frequencies and percentages and also inferentially using the chi square. The results showed that Biology teachers have a positive perception of the use of MCQs. They have a mastery of the construction of MCQs, MCQs is better than short answer structural questions, MCQs at the Advanced level Biology is helpful in the attainment of instructional objectives, they do not experience constraints in constructing MCQs, and Biology Teachers partake in decision-making on matters that concern MCQs. This positive perception influences the students’ academic performance positively as seen in the steady rise of Advanced Level GCE Biology results from 2009 which is the year of inception of MCQs in the GCE Board examination to 2016. The sudden drop in the year 2017 is due to the unrest atmosphere witnessed in the English speaking Region of Cameroon as gotten from some purposively selected schools in the South West Region as shown in the appendix.

Using examinations to promote tobacco? Question No. 56 of the Common General Test of the Advanced Level examination of 2005

Ceylon Medical Journal 1Chairman, National Dangerous Drugs Control Board, 383, Kotte Road, Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka; e-mail: . The Common General Test of the GCE Advanced Level examination of 2005 carried a question that deserves attention, for it illustrates the subtlety with which tobacco industry propaganda is placed. The question was as follows in the English version of this paper. A group of people who support smoking says that the significant beneficial effects of smoking occur primarily in the area of mental health and the habit originates in a search for contentment. The life expectancy of people has increased greatly in recent years. It is possible that the relaxation and contentment and enjoyment produced by smoking have lengthened many lives, smoking is therefore beneficial they conclude. Which one of the following, if true weakens the above conclusion? 1. That cigarettes are the major health hazard, cannot be traced to the willful act of any human organisation. 2. The government earns millions of money from the tobacco tax and tens and thousands of civilians are employed in the tobacco industry. 3. The evidence cited in the statement covers only one example of the effect of cigarette smoking. 4. No mention is made of possible harmful side-effects of smoking. 5. No statistical evidence has proven a link between smoking and longevity.

Predicting university performance

University admissions in Australia are dictated primarily by entrance ranking scores (TER) based on all courses taken in secondary school. However, these are unreliable indicators of ability to do mathematically based university courses. Differences in mathematical curricula between Australian states also complicates admissions for students moving interstate, especially with 19 or more different mathematical courses being offered in high schools across Australia. This article compares student TER and performance in a diagnostic test, against their university grade at the end of one semester to find a better predictor than simple TER measures. References E. A. Catchpole and B. R. Anderson, Comparing the performances of NSW and Victorian students in a first-year mathematics course. Austr. New Zealand J. Statist. 40(4), 1998, 389--406. doi:10.1111/1467-842X.00044 A. C. Croft, S. Hibberd, D. A. Lawson, L. R. Mustoe and C. T. Shaw, Engineering mathematics in the UK: SARTOR---a timely opportunity for reform. Engineering Science and education Journal. 2000, 77--87. doi:10.1049/esej:20000205 Engineering Council (UK), Measuring the Mathematics problem, Engineering Council, June 2000. http://www.engc.org.uk/publications/pdf/mathsreport.pdf M. S. Fadali, N. Velasquez--Bryant and M. Robinson, Work in progress---Is attitude toward mathematics an obstacle to engineering education? 4th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 19--24, 2004. http://fie.engrng.pitt.edu/fie2004/papers/1090.pdf B. Hassler, R. Atkinson, D. Quinney and M. Barry, The Experience of Fresher Students in Mathematics Diagnostic Testing, MSOR connections, Aug 2004, 4. http://www.atm.damtp.cam.ac.uk/people/bh213/ARDTS/DiagnosticTesting_MSOR_aug04.pdf D. Lawson, Changes in student entry competencies, 1991--2001. Teaching Mathematics and its applications, 22(4), 171--175. doi:10.1093/teamat/22.4.171 Ltsn, MathsTEAM Project, Diagnostic testing for mathematics, http://mathstore.ac.uk/mathsteam/packs/diagnostic_test.pdf MDTP, Mathematics Diagnostic Testing Project, California State University, http://www.math.csusb.edu/mdtp/Home.htm A. Miller, J. Bradbury and D. Middleman, Diagnostic testing, Mount Allison University, USA. http://mathcs.mta.ca/demo1.htm I. E. Otung, Reassessing the mathematics content of engineering education. Engineering Science and education journal, 2001, 130--138. doi:10.1049/esej:20010401 F. Barrington and P. Brown, Comparison of Year 12 pre-tertiary mathematics subjects in Australia 2004--2005. Australian Mathematics Science Institute, 2005. http://www.ice-em.org.au/images/stories/FileDownloads/Comparison_of_Year_12_Pre-tertiary_Mathematics_Subjects_in_Australia_2004-2005.pdf J. Ridd, Participation in Physics and rigorous mathematics and a consideration of educational, economic and political influences. PhD Thesis, James Cook University, 2003. J. Ridd, Year 9 and 10 structures in Queensland and possible implications for subsequent studies in Mathematics and Physics. The Physicist, 37(3), 94--98, 2000. P. Ridd, Physics will add up only with maths. The Australian, July 19, 2006. p.32. K. L. Todd, An historical study of the correlation between GCE Advanced level grades and the subsequent academic performance of well qualified students in a university engineering department. Mathematics Today, 37(5), 2001. F. Barrington, Participation in Year 12 mathematics across Australia 1994--2005. ICE-EM Publications in Education No 2, Australian Mathematics Science Institute, 2006. http://www.ice-em.com.au/pdfs/Participation_in_Yr12_Maths.pdf S. I. Barry and S. Davis, Essential mathematical skills for undergraduate students. Int. J. of Math. Education in Science and Technology, 30, 499--512, 1999. S. I. Barry and S. Davis, Essential Mathematics Skills, UNSW Press, Australia, 2002,

The evolution of textbook misconceptions about Darwin

Textbooks for GCE Advanced Level Biology have provided over-simplified and inaccurate accounts of Charles Darwin's contribution to the study of evolution over a period of many decades. They have credited him with field skills and insight that he did not possess, and repeated several historical inaccuracies. Darwin's strength was as a synthesiser of information but, at least in his early life, he was not a particularly observant or careful field biologist. The specimens collected onhis voyage on HMS Beaglewere largely identified and analysed by others, but this is rarely acknowledged. This article crit-icises the historical accuracy of the treatment of Darwin and his ideas in a range of A-level textbooks, and notes a worrying absence of references to Darwin in current A-level Biology specifications and some texts.

Teaching Groups as Foci for Evaluating Performance in Cost-Effectiveness of GCE Advanced Level Provision: Some Practical Methodological Innovations1

Some key methodological issues in factors affecting educational effectiveness within schools are discussed. The motivation is an analysis of subject teaching group effectiveness in English and Welsh GCE Advanced Level prior to a linking to resources. Cross-classified multilevel models with weighted random effects are suggested for disentangling student, group, and teacher effects. Analyses show that there is considerable variation between subjects within students. Teacher effects are shown to be considerable but explanations for variation cannot be sought in the conventional personal characteristics of teachers. One conclusion is that it is availability of data which constrains such investigations and not methodology.

What Do They Bring With Them? The fieldwork experiences of undergraduates on entry into higher education

This paper is concerned with the transition from school/college to higher education and discusses the outcomes of surveys of first-year undergraduates enrolled on geography degrees with respect to their experiences of field study as part of GCE Advanced level programmes prior to entry. Despite the core status given to fieldwork in the geographical training offered at Advanced level, the surveys show substantial variation among students in terms of field days, ranging from zero to 11 days. Consequently, each student cohort has a very uneven background of field study. Additionally, although students have developed generally positive attitudes to field study, a number of preferences and prejudices are identified. Many students have clearer recollections of data collection and recording techniques than of the character of the places in which investigations occurred. The resultant implications for field study within undergraduate programmes are discussed.

An Investigation into the Understanding of Geological Time among 17-year-old Students, with Implications for the Subject Matter Knowledge of Future Teachers

Conceptions of geological time among 17-year-old students are examined in order to explore the subject matter knowledge of beginning teachers from the pivotal educational context of GCE Advanced Level. The concept of time has received much attention over the centuries from many perspectives, but the geological perspective is poorly represented in popular literature: historical and scientific/theoretical perspectives dominate. The 'everyday' influences on beginning teachers' understanding of geological time are important because of their absence from formal school curricula. Perceptions of 136 17-year-old students were investigated using two instruments. One study identified those major geo-events in their collective consciousness. High-profile geo-events include dinosaur appearance and extinction, continental fragmentation, emergence of plants, human evolution and Ice Age/s. Misconceptions relating to Big Bang and related phenomena were identified. The second study probed students' understanding across 24 geo-events. Results show misunderstanding on the nature and timing of major geo-events, including Big Bang, bolide impact, glacial periods, climate change and the formation of the Sun and planet Earth. Eight previously cited principles for the construction of Deep Time Frameworks are applied for 17-year-old students using a 3-fold structure comprising (1) Lithospheric and Planetary, (2) Biospheric and (3) Atmospheric and Hydrospheric.

The Representation and Attainment of Students with a Hearing Loss in Higher Education

In 1995-96, students with a hearing loss constituted 0.20% of all students who were enrolled on programmes of study in higher education in the UK and 0.22% of students normally resident in the UK. Their representation varied with age, but within each ageband the representation of students with a hearing loss was markedly lower than the prevalence of hearing loss in the general population. This trend was compounded among students in ethnic minorities. Students with a hearing loss tended to have been admitted with lower qualifications than students with no reported disability, but those with passes at GCE Advanced Level had similar points scores. The representation of students with a hearing loss varied inversely with their level of study, it was greater in part-time students than in full-time students, and it varied markedly across different disciplines. In first-degree programmes, students with a hearing loss were equally represented in the first and subsequent years of study; at other levels, they were more likely to choose programmes that were of only a year's duration. The representation of students with a hearing loss was lower among those who obtained qualifications than among those who did not, and students with a hearing loss obtained slightly poorer first degrees than students with no reported disability; however, both of these results were due to differences in background variables. A hearing loss per se appears to have no effect on academic attainment.

Impact of Changing University Admission Criteria on Engineering Education in Sri Lanka

The number of subjects to be offered for GCE (Advanced Level)examination for university admission in Sri Lanka is going to be reduced to three from the four subjects required at present. That means, one subject has to be dropped from the present set of subjects. There has been a debate regarding which subject should to be dropped. At the same time, a set of new subjects are being introduced and revision of syllabi are also taking place. This article tries to critically analyse the impact of the proposed innovations with respect to different possible decisions related to the admissions to the faculties of engineering in Sri Lanka.

VISUALISATION AND THE INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGY IN ‘A’ LEVEL MATHEMATICS: A CLASSROOM INVESTIGATION

The study reported here is part of a wider study, which aims to investigate the potential of the graphical calculator for mediating the development of students’ abilities to visualise the graphs of functions at GCE Advanced level. This paper focuses on how the graphical calculator influenced six particular students’ work with functions. Initial results have illuminated ways in which the technology can have a positive impact on students’ visualisation capabilities. It is proposed that visual thinking forms a significant part of many students’ mathematical reasoning, enabling students to derive richer meaning from given problems. It is suggested further that use of the technology mediates the development of students’ visual capacities, by helping to highlight the links between complementary modes of representation.

The Consequences of Drop‐outs on the Cost‐effectiveness of 16‐19 Colleges

ABSTRACT The extent of non‐retention on post compulsory full‐time education courses mainly undertaken by students in the 16‐19 age group has become recognised as relatively large. Not the least of the concerns surrounding this is the amount of resources devoted to enrolling on courses people who ultimately do not achieve any level of certificated outcome. In this paper we examine the extent of this problem for GCE Advanced Level courses in a number of colleges in the further education funded sector. By focusing on teaching groups we are available to derive a bottom‐up approach to an examination of this resource issue both in absolute terms and implications for internal resource allocation. We identify prior achievements of enrolments as a major factor related to non‐retention on courses. We also address the problem of students dropping out of full‐time post‐school education entirely and conclude that the phenomenon of enrolment loss is directly related to this problem. Reduced portfolios or switching of course patterns do not seem to have much of a direct impact on resource expenditure. We draw some conclusions about the extent of the problem but also indicate that effective screening may lead to more efficient allocations.

Examination Results of Pupils Offered Assisted Places: comparing GCE Advanced level results in independent and state schools

Summary This paper reports the findings of a study comparing the public examination results at GCE advanced (A) and advanced supplementary (AS) levels of pupils with assisted places (APs) in the independent sector and pupils in the state sector of similar ability. The examination entries and results of pupils with APs were compared with those of pupils who had gained an AP at the same school but had not attended that school; they had, instead, taken their A levels in the state sector. After controlling for ability it was found that the AP pupils achieved a significantly higher total point score in their A/AS levels than the pupils in the state sector and that the average point score per examination entry was higher for AP than state pupils. The results suggest that there is an advantage in taking up an AP but the possibility cannot be ruled out that the advantage for AP pupils arises from factors other than their education in the independent sector (e.g. family background and parental involvement).

Factors predicting success and failure in the first-year examinations of medical and dental courses

Entrants to medical and dental courses in London University were given questionnaires covering aspects of study organization, attitudes towards the course, and approach to studying. Two factors were identified with a significant relation to examination performance at the end of the first year, a general study organization factor and performance at the GCE advanced level examination. The first was a stronger predictor than the second. However these factors only demonstrated a limited ability to identify students who failed the first year of the course, so can at best enable a modest improvement in selecting students who will pass, or in identifying students in need of counselling during the course. Some differences were found between results for the two samples and possible reasons for these are discussed.

The Reform of Advanced Level

The GCE advanced level examination system: perceptions, features and theories advanced level origins attempts to reform the structure of A level the evolution of advanced level examinations AS levels: a case study in broadening advanced levels the continuing reform of advanced level a view of A and AS level examinations in the mid 1990s.

Some measures of academic attainment at GCE (Advanced) level

Summary Any numerical parameter relating to something as complex as ‘academic ability’ must be regarded with some reservation. Although statistical methods may sometimes improve the interpretation of numbers, they can never completely eliminate the fallibility of the primary data and may even obscure this basic weakness. In this paper we have made a number of assumptions, such as that aggregate A‐level scores reflect academic ability, and that if aggregate ‘O’ scores show a good correlation with ‘A’ scores, then these, too, must reflect the same. These are broad generalizations, and any experienced teacher will be aware of their limitations. For instance, O‐level scores are affected by many other factors such as schools, teachers, groups, social background, maturity, etc. In addition, one may ask if an ‘A’ grade in O‐level Domestic Science or Drama is the same indicator of academic ability as an ‘A’ in Physics or French. With these reservations in mind, we have developed a scheme for comparing A‐level performance between different subjects in this college by taking account of two contributing factors, namely O‐level scores and the ‘degree of severity’ of the A‐level subject, as revealed by match‐pairs statistics. Our analysis has been both interesting and informative, in some cases confirming what we had long suspected, whilst in others throwing new light on examination results. The tables have also provided a useful focus for discussion between the principal and heads of departments.