Score gains on g-loaded tests: No g

An alternative way for testing a student's understanding of theory in a tertiary mathematics course is presented. Two sample questions are provided and advantages and disadvantages of the method are discussed. We argue that the method is an acceptable and flexible means of testing students, and can be adapted to be used in other contexts as well.

Comprehension Tests in Mathematics.

Dynamic assessment, and in particular the learning potential approach, are receiving increasing attention from educators and research practitioners worldwide. This article reports on the status of ...

/pdf/a-review-of-south-african-research-in-the-field-of-dynamic-e3hiixhr8h.pdf

A Review of South African Research in the Field of Dynamic Assessment

Following the political changes of 1994 in South Africa, the decision was taken to replace the traditional skills-based education system at primary and secondary school level (Grades 1‐12) with an outcomes-based education system (OBE). The implementation of the OBE system did not come without problems, giving rise to revised initiatives. The OBE approach, referred to as Curriculum 2005, was introduced into schools in 1998, for all learners in Grades 1- 6 and progressively phased in after that. In 2002, the OBE system was put on hold for the two upper grades of these learners. Learners in these two grades reverted back to skills-based learning for their last three years of schooling, i.e. in Grades 10 ‐ 12. The most senior of these learners that had been subjected to four years of OBE and another three years of the old system finished their schooling in 2005 and 2006 and entered university in 2006 and 2007. These groups are of interest. Students ahead of them had their full schooling in the old system and students two years younger were only subjected to OBE. These students are the “group in the middle”. This paper reports on what the impact is of the growing pains of such a new, inadequately planned education system on the mathematics preparedness of students entering university. This report will be extended in 2009 when the learners that have been fully subjected to the OBE system enter university.

/pdf/the-impact-of-the-transition-to-outcomes-based-teaching-on-2yzurt64ve.pdf

The impact of the transition to outcomes-based teaching on university preparedness in mathematics in South Africa

Pippa Stein and Bonny Norton Peirce, two White educators in South Africa, explore issues of textual meaning, testing, and pedagogy based on their experience piloting a reading test to be used as a college entrance examination for Black students. Drawing on Stein's personal experience administering the test and on literature in the fields of genre analysis and textual interpretation, Stein and Peirce question the test's meaning and validity. The authors discuss how the students' interpretations of the text differed as Stein altered the social context, illustrating the ways in which the politics of different social occasions contribute to the production of multiple meanings. In their exploration of how shifting power relations produce multiple meanings, the authors raise important questions at the heart of testing, equity, and pedagogy.

/pdf/why-the-monkeys-passage-bombed-tests-genres-and-teaching-1kqaudpx8u.pdf

Why the "Monkeys Passage" Bombed: Tests, Genres, and Teaching

Matriculation results for applicants from the turbulent and under‐resourced South African Department of Education and Training system have consistently proved to be an unreliable indicator of future academic performance, particularly in the lower pass ranges. While urgent attention is being paid to the improvement of education in the country, the legacy of apartheid divisions and inequities will remain for some time. The Alternative Admissions Research Project at the University of Cape Town has developed, and performs research on, tests that indicate ability to cope with English‐medium academic education. These tests are used to provide additional access opportunities for students from disadvantaged educational backgrounds. In order to avoid developing tests that in effect only predict the past, the project has embarked upon an innovative approach designed to take seriously the effects of educational disadvantage, and to minimise reliance on content‐based secondary school experiences. This approa...

Educational Histories and Academic Potential: can tests deliver?

Decisions on admissions to university and placement into university courses are usually based on the results of achievement (as in secondary school exams) and/or aptitude (in intelligence-type tests and SAT). This paper argues that in a situation where educational provision at secondary school level is highly unequal, a third approach to testing offers an alternative which is preferable both on grounds of theory of cognitive psychology and because it yields much better discrimination. The Alternative Admissions Research Project at University of Cape Town has developed a mathematics test according to the dynamic testing approach as advocated by Miller (1990) for admission of African students from grossly under-resourced schools, as well as for placing these and other students into a diversifying first year curriculum. This approach aims to assess the ability of a candidate to learn from authentic academic material within the test. This paper focuses on the reasons for the development of the mathematics test and the process by which the test questions were developed and piloted. The reliability of the test and correlations of this test with subsequent mathematical performance data are discussed. Following the encouraging data for the test as an admission mechanism, the value of the dynamic testing approach for furnishing additional information for placement into an increasingly varied curriculum at first year level was investigated. This enabled the piloting of more topics and more comprehensive validation of this type of testing. The paper concerns itself with the reliability and predictive value of each of the topics in this placement test for a range of core courses in various faculties and the extent to which these tests can identify potentially at risk students who should be placed onto an appropriate curriculum.

A developmental approach to mathematics testing for university admissions and course placement

Assessment, equity and language of learning : key issues for higher education selection in South Africa

The project represents an attempt to provide both schooling and higher education with important information on the competencies of their exiting (in the case of schools) and entering (in the case of universities) students: information that does not duplicate the essential information delivered by the school-leaving examination, but that provides an important extra dimension.

/pdf/critical-questions-some-responses-to-issues-raised-in-3qvn963b2m.pdf

Critical questions? Some responses to issues raised in relation to the national benchmark tests project

Criterion-referenced assessments have become more common around the world, with performance standards being set to differentiate different levels of student performance. However, use of standard setting methods developed in the United States may be complicated by factors related to the political and educational contexts within another country. In this article, experience gained from conducting several standard setting studies in South Africa is shared. The legacy of the apartheid era, in which segregation and discrimination were institutionalized, affects the attitudes of South Africans toward assessment and placing students into performance levels. These issues played out as panelists were asked to make judgments related to students’ likely performance in higher education. Although the instantiation of panelists’ reluctance to label students may be different in South Africa compared to the United States or other countries, lessons can be learned about how the effects of these beliefs and anxieties may be...

/pdf/standard-setting-lessons-learned-in-the-south-african-2ahr23sci8.pdf

Nan Yeld

Papers

Educational Histories and Academic Potential: can tests deliver?

A developmental approach to mathematics testing for university admissions and course placement

Assessment, equity and language of learning : key issues for higher education selection in South Africa

Critical questions? Some responses to issues raised in relation to the national benchmark tests project

Standard Setting Lessons Learned in the South African Context: Implications for International Implementation