A study of the alignment of learning targets and assessment to generic skills in the new senior secondary mathematics curriculum in Hong Kong

Leung, Ka-Cheong; Leung, Frederick K. S.; Zuo, Haode

doi:10.1016/j.stueduc.2014.09.002

Cited by 25 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…But, on the other hand, PAU exams designing process is not including critical thinking as in Alberta exams ([10], p.173). Subsequently, it is necessary a proper alignment [52] between new curricular standards oriented to problem solving in real contexts and their assessment in central examinations, despite some tasks as critical thinking or decision making in mathematical frameworks have been underlined as very difficult to be evaluated in such type of exams [53]. This result is also consistent with [28], where a lack of contextualized probability problems was pointed out.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Washback Effect of University Entrance exams in Applied Mathematics to Social Sciences

Rodrı́guez-Muñiz¹,

Díaz²,

Mier³

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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Curricular issues of subject Applied Mathematics to Social Sciences are studied in relation to university entrance exams performed in several Spanish regions between 2009–2014. By using quantitative and qualitative analyses, it has been studied how these exams align with curriculum and how they produce a washback on curriculum and teachers’ work. Additionally, one questionnaire about teachers’ practices has been performed, in order to find out how the exams are influencing teaching methodology development. Main results obtained show that evaluation is producing a bias on the official curriculum, substantially simplifying the specific orientation that should guide applied mathematics. Furthermore, teachers’ practices are influenced by the exams, and they usually approach their teaching methodology to the frequent types of exams. Also, slight differences among the teachers lead to distinguish two behavioral subgroups. Results can also be useful in an international context, because of the importance of standardized exit exams in OECD countries.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Washback Effect of University Entrance exams in Applied Mathematics to Social Sciences

Rodrı́guez-Muñiz¹,

Díaz²,

Mier³

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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“…Studies in the field of generic skills development have been done in countries such as the U.S.A. (Benjamin et al, 2012), China (Leung, Leung & Zuo, 2014), Malaysia and Indonesia (Hadi & Ibrahim, 2013) and Singapore (Jacobs et al, 2014). Most of the studies, however, were done in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Australia.…”

Section: Generic Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maximising the First-Year Experience through the Incorporation of Generic Skills in a Medical Curriculum at the University of the Free State

Jama¹

2018

JSAA

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The highest attrition rates occur among first-year students. Universities have designed different curricular programmes, such as the development of generic skills, to address this challenge. In the medical school at the University of the Free State in South Africa, these skills were incorporated in the MBChB curriculum as an eight credit-bearing module in 2000 and later increased to 12 credits in 2009. To date, the effectiveness of this first-year module in equipping students with generic skills was last determined in 2002. The aim of this research was to determine the perceptions of first-year students regarding the effectiveness of this module in equipping them with generic skills. A questionnaire survey was distributed to 596 first-year medical students each year from 2013 to 2016. A focus group discussion (FGD) was held with 13 students who failed the first year of study in 2016 and had to repeat in 2017. According to the results, most students had a positive perception about the structure and organisation as well as the benefits of the module. However, from the questionnaire results, the overall rating of the effectiveness of the module was not very positive, with 35% of students rating it effective, 45% rating it relatively effective and 20% rating it not effective. However, during the FGD, seven (54%) of the 13 students rated it effective. In the qualitative statements of the questionnaire, a common comment related to the poor rating was about the unnecessary long hours in some sessions. Other comments from the questionnaire were medically related, with some students suggesting more practical and clinical demonstrations. During the FGD, students could not understand why their peers needed practical demonstrations in the first year. The incorporation of generic skills should be contextand discipline-specific and students should be "re-equipped" with certain skills during different stages of the curriculum.

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“…Given the influence that highstakes assessments have on the implementation of the curriculum in schools (Broadfoot, 1996), the degree to which such assessments are aligned with the intentions of the curriculum is an important concern for any jurisdiction. Studies of alignment in some of the jurisdictions included in this study have raised concerns about the cognitive level of assessments and the assessment of higher-level thinking and problem solving (Leung, Leung, & Zuo, 2014;Polikoff, Porter, & Smithson, 2011). As our focus in this article is on the ways in which curricula orient themselves towards the use of mathematics in the real world, it is relevant to consider to what extent the assessment instruments reflect the orientation of the curriculum.…”

Section: Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Curricular orientations to real‐world contexts in mathematics

Smith¹,

Morgan²

2016

The Curriculum Journal

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A common claim about mathematics education is that it should equip students to use mathematics in the 'real world'. In this article, we examine how relationships between mathematics education and the real world are materialised in the curriculum across a sample of eleven jurisdictions. In particular, we address the orientation of the curriculum towards application of mathematics, the ways that real-world contexts are positioned within the curriculum content, the ways in which different groups of students are expected to engage with real-world contexts, and the extent to which high-stakes assessments include real-world problem solving. The analysis reveals variation across jurisdictions and some lack of coherence between official orientations towards use of mathematics in the real world and the ways that this is materialised in the organisation of the content for students.Keywords: mathematics; real-world contexts; modelling; curriculum;International Instructional System Study; Center for International Education Benchmarking. IntroductionEducation systems around the world tend to value mathematics as a school subject that is not only studied by a large majority of students throughout the years of compulsory schooling but is also widely used as a key indicator of the success of individual students (as a necessary or highly desirable component of school leaving qualifications) and of education systems themselves (as measured by international testing regimes such as PISA and TIMSS). Various reasons may be offered for the importance attached to mathematics as a part of the school curriculum; among these is the claim that mathematics has a functional role in relation to participation in the 'real world' beyond the mathematics classroom. The question of the nature of the relationship between school mathematics and the real world arose for us during a review of curriculum documents for primary and secondary mathematics from eleven jurisdictions, carried out as part of the International Instructional Systems Study (see Creese, Gonzalez & Isaacs, this issue). As we reviewed the aims, content and assessment materials from the various jurisdictions, we began to notice differences in the ways that applications of mathematics in the real world were conceptualised, integrated into the mathematical content and materialised in assessment instruments. In this article we attempt to map out this variation across the jurisdictions studied and raise questions about the coherence of the conceptualisation and instrumentation of the mathematics -real world relationship within individual jurisdictions. BackgroundThe function of mathematics within the curriculum has long been a source of difference and debate. Opinions range from seeing the study of mathematics as introducing students to part of their cultural heritage, similar to the study of literature or history, to considering mathematics as mental training for the elite or the rational human, or primarily as a tool to enable students to engage successfully in study of other subjects,...

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A study of the alignment of learning targets and assessment to generic skills in the new senior secondary mathematics curriculum in Hong Kong

Cited by 25 publications

References 7 publications

Washback Effect of University Entrance exams in Applied Mathematics to Social Sciences

Washback Effect of University Entrance exams in Applied Mathematics to Social Sciences

Maximising the First-Year Experience through the Incorporation of Generic Skills in a Medical Curriculum at the University of the Free State

Curricular orientations to real‐world contexts in mathematics

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