High-stakes National Examinations Research Articles

Away from home, better at school. The case of a British boarding school

In this paper we study whether substituting family inputs with school resources in an academically oriented environment has an impact on achievement in high-stakes national examinations. We use administrative data for England to estimate the effect of attending a selective boarding school that admits an unusually high share of pupils with low socio-economic status on attainment at the end of compulsory education. By using propensity score matching we obtain comparable control groups in selective non-boarding schools. Our main finding is that the probability of being in the top decile of achievement in the exams increases by about 18 percentage points compared to 59% for controls.

Problem Based Learning for Fourth Year Medical Students in Fayoum Governorate, Egypt

Background: Problem based learning (PBL) consider that the most significant development in education over the past five decades. It has been boosted by the curriculum of choice, and since its introduction in the 1960's, has been vastly adopted by many medical and dental schools. Objectives: The aim of this research was to compare the development and recollection of knowledge in the medical sciences between students on the traditional and reformed undergraduate medical curricula, respectively.Methods: For each medical student has taken, The Progress Test Medizin (PTM), relative frequencies of correct answers were computed for basic sciences items only and for the whole curriculum. Frequencies were averaged and grouped by semester and curriculum. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were performed at all measurement points with a Bonferroni-corrected p-value at the level of p < 0.005. Eta-squared (g2) was used to classify effect size.Results: The current study occurs on 80 fourth year medical students divided into two rounds. First round study by the traditional medical curriculum (lecture group) whiles the second round study by the reformed medical curriculum (problem learning group). The present study shows that there is statistically significant difference with p-value <0.05 between different topics among lecture teaching method with the lowest score given for identification topic and the highest core for death topic; which indicated that lecture methods not suits some topics as identification topicConclusion: Proceed testing as a longitudinal method allows us to better understand the development of knowledge during formal undergraduate education. The main difference between traditional and problem-based medical education demonstrate to be induced by the high-stakes national examination undertaken in the traditional course.

WASHBACK OF ENGLISH NATIONAL EXAMINATION IN THE INDONESIAN CONTEXT

This study examines how teachers teach English to prepare students for high-stakes English national examination in the Indonesian context. Data were collected from two high-achieving and three low-achieving schools with eleven teachers as the subjects of in-depth interviews and nonparticipatory classroom observations. The findings reveal that bi-directional washback was found in both groups of schools. The schools of low achievers were found to have more intensive negative washback than those of high achievers. The different intensity of negative washback is likely related to the teachers’ perspective about their students’ level of competence for passing the national examination and about the quality of their schools. The consistently unsatisfactory national examination scores of the low-achieving schools, despite their concerted efforts in the examination preparation program, suggest that the government should focus on supporting such schools with more empirically-based empowerment programs, which would become an indispensable follow-up actions regarding the implementation of the highstakes national examination.

“‘Sink or swim’: buoyancy and coping in the cognitive test anxiety – academic performance relationship”

This study explores the relationship between students’ self-report levels of cognitive test anxiety (worry), academic buoyancy (withstanding and successfully responding to routine school challenges and setbacks), coping processes and their achieved grades in high-stakes national examinations at the end of compulsory schooling. The sample comprised 325 English students in their final year of secondary school preparing for high-stakes examinations. While controlling for prior attainment and gender, higher worry predicted lower examinations scores. This was partially mediated by less use of effective pre-exam coping strategies. Academic buoyancy moderated the indirect relationship such that the indirect negative relationship from worry to examination performance was stronger when academic buoyancy was lower. The paper concludes that providing in-school training in task-focus and orientation and how to withstand academic pressures may help to ameliorate the influence of performance-interfering worries, and potentially enhance performance among students inclined to worry about examinations.

Teacher Knowledge Shaping the Teaching of Genetics: A Case Study of Two Underqualified Teachers in Malawi

This paper reports on the relationship between the subject matter knowledge of two underqualified teachers and their topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK) as they taught genetics at two community secondary schools in Malawi. The study was qualitative and used the multiple case study approach. The sample was purposefully chosen. Data were collected through video-recorded lesson observations and tape-recorded interviews. Guided by literature on teaching genetics and on TSPCK, thematic analysis was done on the data to identify emerging themes and categories that best provided meaning. The categories used in analysing the data were the five components of TSPCK: learners' prior knowledge; curricular saliency; what makes the topic easy or difficult to understand; representations including analogies; and conceptual teaching strategies. For both teachers, their knowledge of subject matter influenced three of the five components of TSPCK: knowledge of subject representations; teaching strategies; and issues that make the topic difficult/easy to understand. The other two components, that is, knowledge of learner's prior knowledge on the topic and curricular saliency, depended more on the way the teachers perceived the purpose of teaching genetics for their learners—either for success in the high-stakes national examinations or for understanding and applying this knowledge in their everyday life experiences. Although these findings cannot be generalised owing to the small sample size, they do highlight the need for adequate subject matter knowledge and awareness of the purpose of teaching genetics for teachers to have strong TSPCK. Therefore, tertiary institutions involved in secondary school teacher preparation in Malawi and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology should design relevant interventions to improve the underqualified teachers' subject matter knowledge on genetics and sensitise them on the purpose of teaching genetics, so that their TSPCK of genetics can be strengthened which, in turn, would improve the teaching of the topic in community secondary schools for the country to have a genetics-literate public.

Validity considerations ensuing from examinees’ perceptions about high-stakes national examinations in Cyprus

Student examinees are key stakeholders in large-scale, high-stakes, public examination systems. How they perceive the purpose, comprehend the technical characteristics of testing and how they interpret scores influence their response to the system demands and their preparation for the examinations; this information relates to intended and unintended consequences of testing and is a component of an expanded notion of test validity. The research reported in this paper investigates examinees’ perceptions about the secondary school graduation and university-entrance national exams in Cyprus. Interviews with recent examinees reveal the versatility and complexity of their perceptions about the fairness and appropriateness of the system, which are influenced by design features of the exams and by the local context. There are important, mostly unintended, consequences on their in- and out-of-school experience, on school curricula and on instructional practices. Empirical evidence about consequential aspects of examinations contributes to the validity argument needed to support such programmes.

Development of knowledge in basic sciences: a comparison of two medical curricula

Basic medical sciences education differs among medicine courses, especially as traditional and integrated problem-based learning (PBL) curricula teach basic sciences in very different ways. The literature shows no clear differences in the performance of students of these different educational philosophies. The Charité Medical University of Berlin (Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin) teaches both a traditional medical curriculum (TMC) and a PBL reformed medical curriculum (RMC). Both curricula conduct the Progress Test in Medicine (PTM), which examines competence in the basic and clinical sciences from the first to the last semester. The aim of this study was to compare the development and retention of knowledge in the basic medical sciences between students on the traditional and reformed undergraduate medical curricula, respectively. For each student and single PTM, relative frequencies of correct answers were computed for basic sciences items only and for the whole curriculum. Frequencies were averaged and grouped by semester and curriculum. Analyses of variance (anovas) were performed at all measurement points with a Bonferroni-corrected p-value at the level of p < 0.005. Eta-squared (η(2)) was used to classify effect size. In the first three semesters, RMC students slightly outperform TMC students in the basic sciences, although TMC students receive more systematic teaching. After this, TMC students develop a peak of knowledge in basic sciences and overtake RMC students. The knowledge of TMC students then decreases over time, but despite this, they perform better in the final semester. Students on the RMC show constant progress throughout their undergraduate studies. Overall, the development of medical knowledge is consistent in both curricula. There is no significant difference in this outcome between the traditional and PBL courses. Progress testing as a longitudinal method allows us to better understand the development of knowledge during formal undergraduate education. The main difference between traditional and problem-based medical education seems to be provoked by the high-stakes national examination undertaken in the traditional course (the Physikum).

The script concordance test as a measure of clinical reasoning: a national validation study

IntroductionThe script concordance test (SCT) is an innovative tool for clinical reasoning assessment. It has previously been shown to be a reliable and valid measure of clinical reasoning among general surgical residents. PurposeTo determine if the SCT maintained its validity and reliability when administered on a national level. MethodsThe test was administered to 202 residents (51 R1, 45 R2, 45 R3, 28 R4, and 33 R5) in 9 general surgery programs across Canada. ResultsThe optimized version of the test had a reliability (Cronbach alpha) of .85. Scores increased progressively from R1 (64.5 ± 7.6) to R2 (69.5 ± 5.8) to R3 (69.9 ± 6.7) to R4 (72.0 ± 6.2) with a dip in the R5s (68.3 ± 8.6). The test was able to differentiate junior (R1+ R2 = 66.8 ± 7.2) from senior residents (R3 + R4 + R5 = 70.0 ± 7.3, P = .001) across all the programs. ConclusionsThe SCT maintained its reliability and validity as a measure of intraoperative clinical reasoning among general surgical residents when administered across multiple centers. We believe that the SCT can be developed to measure clinical reasoning in high-stakes national examinations.

Discursive construction of a high-stakes test: the many faces of a test-taker

As part of a larger project, we studied how a foreign language test got discursively constructed in the talk of upper-secondary-school leavers. A group of students were asked to keep an oral diary to record their ideas, feelings and experiences of preparing for and taking the test over the last spring term of school, as part of a high-stakes national examination. In addition, they took part in discussions either in pairs or groups of three after having learned about the final test results. After transcribing the data, drawing on a form of discourse analysis originally launched by a group of social psychologists, we identified (at least) four interpretative repertoires in the students’ accounts - with different constructions of themselves as test-takers, the test, and their performance in the test - including expectations and explanations for success or failure as well as credit or blame. The findings point to variation in the uses of these repertoires, not only from one context to another but also from moment to moment.

AMEE Medical Education Guide No. 13: real patients, simulated patients and simulators in clinical examinations

In the assessment of clinical competence it is important to observe a candidate interacting with a patient. The role of the patient in this encounter will vary depending upon the level of interaction expected between the student and the patient, and whether physical signs are part of the presentation. Patients used in examinations may be real or simulated by a person who has undergone training in order to reproduce a particular scenario. Models or simulators, videotape and audiotape and computers may also be used as patient substitutes. There is a continuum between real patients with no training and simulated patients who have been extensively trained to perform the task: (1) 'real' patients presenting in clinical practice; (2) 'real' patients who have agreed to take part in a clinical examination but who are unrehearsed; (3) 'real' patients who have been rehearsed in what is expected of them; (4) 'real' patients who have been asked to modify, for the purpose of the examination, aspects of their history or presentation; (5) 'real' patients whose medical experience forms the basis for their performance in the examination but whose presentation is substantially modified for the purpose of the examination; (6) simulated patients who are given only an outline of what is expected of them; (7) simulated patients who are given a short brief or scenario with which they become familiar but beyond which they are free to respond as they wish; (8) simulated patients who are briefed extensively and who are thoroughly rehearsed prior to the examination. Simple and sophisticated simulators may be used to assess skills of physical examination and practical procedures. In only a few instances is the choice of patient representation in an examination limited to one approach. Examples where the choice is limited are the use of real patients with physical signs which cannot be simulated, the use of simulated patients in delicate or emotionally difficult areas, and the use of simulators where the use of patients would be inappropriate, for example, cardiopulmonary resuscitation. In many instances, however, there is no one correct approach. The approach adopted should be determined by the local circumstances and the needs of the examination. Factors which should influence the choice of patient representation in an examination are related to: (1) what is being assessed, including the level of abnormality and level of interaction with the patient required; (2) the level of standardization required, with greater emphasis on standardization needed for high-stakes national examinations; (3) the logistics, including the availability and costs of real patients and trained simulated patients; (4) the context, for example, practice-based or formal examinations of the OSCE type; (5) the level of realism or authenticity required. Practical steps can be taken in the clinical examination to get the maximum value from the patient whether 'real' or simulated.