Coursework changes
ePolitix.com Stakeholders respond to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's announcement of revisions to GCSE coursework.
Stakeholder Response: NASUWT
Chris Keates, general secretary of NASUWT, said: "The QCA review was largely influenced by concerns about widespread cheating and plagiarism.
"Although such issues must be taken seriously, NASUWT has never subscribed to the view that this is a major problem.
"The sudden obsession with cheating and plagiarism appears to coincide with the increased accessibility of information via the internet.
"Children from advantaged backgrounds have always had access to resources and opportunities to support coursework research denied to disadvantaged children.
"Now access to a wide range of information is available to more children, concerns are raised about cheating.
"The QCA’s proposal for ‘controlled assessment’ of coursework to address this perceived problem raises more questions than it answers.
"Supervised writing up of research will not deter those determined to buck the system from being coached by a parent beforehand.
"Cheating cannot be ignored or condoned. However, rather than placing additional burdens and responsibilities on teachers or denying some pupils access to the opportunity to benefit from coursework, QCA and the exam boards should be prepared to place more trust in the professional judgement and integrity of teachers.
"In addition, they should support their work by investing in the readily available plagiarism detection technology."
Stakeholder Response: Association of Teachers and Lecturers
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) said: "ATL supports QCA's approach of reforming coursework on a subject by subject basis. However, most humanities teachers believe coursework is vital and will hope to see its best features replicated in the controlled assessments.
"ATL believes that in the long term we need more teacher assessment, not less, but this will only become realistic when the crushingly high stakes of league tables are removed."
Stakeholder Response: Association of School and College Leaders
ASCL general secretary Dr John Dunford said: "Coursework is no longer fulfilling its original purpose and the risk of plagiarism has become too great to be ignored. For these reasons, I welcome the QCA review of coursework.
"Nobody will mourn the death of coursework in GCSE maths. However, coursework does remain a legitimate way to test a wide range of skills and knowledge in many subjects.
"The meaning of coursework has become confused. It should not be extra work imposed by the examination board, but should complement, and be part of, the work of the course, as proposed in the Tomlinson report.
"What is absolutely certain is that coursework must not be replaced by more exams. This would be a huge step backwards.
"There are far too many external examinations already and the government should be looking for ways to reduce the exam burden on students and teachers, not increase it.
"The sensible use of supervised coursework in the classroom broadens assessment beyond what can be tested in a two-hour examination.
"If more trust were to be put in the professionalism of teachers to mark coursework to external standards, the number of examinations could be cut, saving both money and teaching time.
"In the age of the internet, plagiarism represents a real problem and it is right that the regulations on carrying out coursework should recognise this."
Stakeholder Response:National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations:
"Parents will want to understand the reasons behind the changes to coursework requirements and the impact that this will have on their children.
"It is important for parents to have clear and comprehensive guidance from the school about what level of help and support it is appropriate to give their children in completing coursework.
"We should also not loose sight of the fact that the announcement about changes in coursework will be very unsettling for children currently studying for GCSE's. Both students and parents need to have a thorough understanding of the changes and the timescales involved."
Stakeholder Response: AQA
In a recent interview with ePolitix, Dr Mike Cresswell, Director General of AQA, spoke on the subject of coursework as follows:
"Since it was first introduced, exam coursework has changed.
"Concerns about the extent to which the original approach to coursework involved trusting in the professionalism of teachers have often been raised but never justified with any substantial evidence.
"But over the years, they have led to changes which increase control over the nature of the work assessed and the marks awarded.
"The result is a formulaic approach to exam coursework which reduces students' motivation and increases the burden on teachers.
"And because coursework has to follow a tight specification, rather than arising naturally during each student's learning, it is much easier to plagiarise, sell model answers on the internet and so on.
"It is recent concern about those problems, which do need to be addressed but aren't large scale, which has led to calls to reduce the amount of coursework in exams.
"I would much prefer to see a return to an approach where coursework is embedded in students' learning, with rigorous moderation rather than the withdrawal of coursework.
"Proper exam coursework provides choice for students about their approach to learning, helping them to enjoy it and motivating them to achieve success.
"And coursework in exams lets us assess important things such as practical skills, speaking and listening and the ability to do research, gather information from a range of sources and construct a coherent argument with it.
"These are the sorts of things our young people need to be able to do in the 21st century, as well as having the knowledge and understanding which we assess in timed examinations."
In the light of the announcement by the Secretary of State, Dr Cresswell adds:
"AQA continues to believe that coursework remains a useful assessment tool. However, we also recognise the legitimate concerns over integrity.
"We therefore look forward to playing a full part in contributing to the policy debate on this issue."
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