Coursework assessment
In UK schools, examination coursework is assessed over a carefully constructed framework of criteria and rules, including those needed to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum. Often there are choices over which combinations of activities are valid, and numerous marks and calculations are needed to produce final weighted scores. This can become a complex, time-consuming and error-prone task for teachers and moderators.
We built a special version of our assessment recording software for the UK education market to solve this problem.
One example of a GCSE form required 34 separate pieces of information, 28 validity checks and 25 calculations - a total of 87 operations per candidate. This excluded any special reports to be supplied to the moderators, or repeated entry of the same data onto summary mark sheets.
What the software does
The principle is to collect each piece of information just once, and then to prepare all results and reports automatically - including useful summary reports that will help to manage the workload during the school year . Click the links below for examples of completed forms . You need Adobe Acrobat (see below) to view these files.
Track record
The system was beta tested in the Spring term of 2000 and then used to produce GCSE examination assessment forms for 2001.
For the teaching staff, there is a huge saving of time and much greater accuracy than can be attained using manual processes. A comment in 2001:
"In 1999, once we'd collected the information, it took five members of staff a whole day to prepare the reports and mark sheets. This year it took the PC five minutes."
Benefits
As well as speed and accuracy, the system also gives reports that the teacher can use to review progress with individual students. This can help them to focus on areas for improvement or where extra effort may be needed.
For the head of department, there is the ability to monitor the staff's workflow and ensure that all of the required information is ready when needed.
The head of department can also check students' progress to make sure that they all meet the examination board's requirements (for example, number of pieces of coursework, choice and grouping of topics).
Moderators can spend their time moderating marks and focussing on performance instead of checking arithmetic.
For the examination board, there will be less rework due to arithmetic errors that will inevitably arise during the preparation of handwritten forms.
Specifications
The latest version of the software includes the following Physical Education specifications:
Try it now!
You can download an evaluation copy with restricted functions here.
Please note that the evaluation version does not contain the Edexcel forms. If your centre would like to trial these, please contact us.
Literature
If you would like more details, please