A level playing field Does the levelling of qualifications build - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

A level playing field

Does the levelling of qualifications build bridges or barriers?

Norman Gealy Cassy Taylor Paul Newton

Note: the views expressed are not intended to represent those of Qualifications Wales or Ofqual

Overview

• 1. Academic qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland follow

a logical sequence of levels and ‘structured data’ because of their relationships to the stages of the educational system.

• 2. Vocational qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

provide semi-structured data because of their relationships to different instructional regimes and to the inherently different nature of vocational learning and skills.

• 3. National qualifications frameworks have been developed to impose the

structure of the academic system onto the vocational system, but the assumptions underlying the relationships are questionable.

• 4. These assumptions are influencing the design of vocational

qualifications in ways that lessen the qualifications’ utility – but it is not

• bvious how to address this concern.

Struc uctured d da data a and nd logical l levels: academic qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

a single progressive system

Level of education

Completion of Indicative qualification Level signifier 3 years research postgraduate Doctorate 8 1 year postgraduate Master’s degree 7 3 years undergraduate First degree 6 2 years undergraduate Higher education diploma 5 1 year undergraduate Higher education certificate 4 Secondary, ages 16 to 18 Advanced Level General Certificate of Education 3 Secondary, ages 14 to 16 General Certificate of Secondary Education 1&2

with many factors held constant

Age pre-determined (for progress without breaks) Entry requiring one or more of the preceding qualifications Duration fixed by level (see previous slide) Curricula school, college or university teaching Assessment largely by written examination and/or dissertation Subjects both traditional and innovative, but within the limits of school, college and university capabilities External management by English, Welsh and Northern Irish government agencies

Sem Semi-struc uctured da d data: vocational qualifications in EWNI

multiple progressive systems

with all factors allowed to vary

Age usually over 16, otherwise indeterminate Entry none at all, aptitude and/or interest measures, academic qualifications,

• ther vocational qualifications, specific employment status

Duration hours, days, weeks, months, years Curricula self study, blended learning, classroom instruction, workshop practice, work experience Assessment experience, observed practice, coursework, assignments, written examinations, practical examinations, dissertations, interview Subjects whatever might be required for whatever job at whatever grade/s in whatever industry or sector for which the qualification is developed External quality management none at all, by industry or sector associations, by accrediting

• rganisations (eg, ISO), by the qualification regulators, by statutory

sector regulators

Resolut ution: n: national qualification frameworks

How this was achieved

• 1. By positioning academic qualifications in a two-dimensional matrix.
• 2. By positioning vocational qualifications in the same matrix,

according to their perceived difficulties, without regard to the other ways in which they might vary.

• 3. By interpreting the relative positions in the matrix of all the

academic and vocational qualifications in terms of equivalences and differences between the qualifications.

Matrix of academic qualifications

Level of education

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Physics Law Medicine Etc Etc Etc Etc Etc

Subjects

The difficulty dimension

National Qualifications Framework

Level of difficulty

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Physics Law Medicine Plumbing Management Accounting Etc Etc

Subjects

Underlying assumptions?

• 1. Intellectual aptitude can be treated as a single factor.
• 2. Intellectual aptitude requirements increase with the levels of

academic qualifications in the same subject.

• 3. The intellectual aptitude requirement is the same for academic

qualifications at the same level in different subjects.

• 4. Additional practical and interpersonal aptitudes required for

vocational qualifications can be assessed on the same scale as intellectual aptitude.

• 5. An assessment on this scale can be made by analysing the nature of

a qualification’s learning outcomes, without regard to any other factors (such as those discussed above).

Operationalisation of the model

Level of learning outcome in Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy Level of difficulty Level of education Evaluation 6, 7, 8 6, 7, 8 Synthesis 4, 5, 6 4, 5, 6 Analysis 4, 5 4, 5 Application 2, 3 2, 3 Understanding 1, 2 1, 2 Knowledge 1, 2 1, 2

and a dissenting view

‘essentially the same classes of behaviour may be

• bserved in the usual range of subject-matter content

at different levels of education (elementary, high school, college) and in different schools’

Bloom B S (Ed), 1956, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain, Addison-Wesley

Level 2 Diploma in Skills for Business Level 3 Diploma in Skills for Business

LO1 LO1 AC1.1 State why it is important for a business to change AC1.1 Explain why it is important for a business to change AC1.2 State the risks associated with a business changing too quickly AC1.2 Analyse the positive and negative effects of change on a selected AC1.3 State the risks associated with a business changing too slowly AC1.3 Compare the risks of slow against rapid change within a business AC1.4 Compare the benefits of slow against rapid change within a business LO2 LO2 AC2.1 Outline positive effects change can have on people working in a business AC2.1 Explain why people respond positively to change in a business AC2.2 Outline negative effects change can have on people working in a business AC2.2 Explain why people respond negatively to change in a business Understand how change can affect people within a business Understand how change can affect people within a business Understand change in business Understand the reasons for change in business Unit 10 Respond to change in a business environment Unit 10 Respond to change in a business environment

Unit 10 Pass

L2

AC1.1 The candidate will state why it is important for a business to change

L3

AC1.1 The candidate will explain why it is important for a business to change Merit Distinction The candidate will state why it is important for a business to change, demonstrating critical understanding [No D for this AC] The candidate will explain in detail why it is important for a business to change The candidate will give a sophisticated explanation of why it is important for a business to change

Unit 8 Pass

L2

AC1.4 The candidate will assess ideas against agreed criteria

L3

AC1.4 The candidate will evaluate ideas against agreed criteria Merit Distinction The candidate will assess ideas against agreed criteria, demonstrating critical understanding The candidate will assess ideas against agreed criteria, showing critical judgement The candidate will thoroughly evaluate ideas against agreed criteria The candidate will critically evaluate ideas against agreed criteria drawing appropriate conclusions

• Which is the more realistic description of the Diploma(s) in Skills for

Business?

• 2 distinct qualifications, at adjacent levels, each with 3 distinct grades?
• 1 qualification, either at L2 or at L3 or spanning both, with n distinct grades?
• What features do we need to build into qualifications, to render them

L3 as distinct from L2?

• does command verb (performance) complexity capture anything important

about either level-ness or grade-ness, that we can build into qualifications?

Findings from Building the Future

1. Significant repetition across levels 1, 2 and 3 in construction qualifications 2. Difference in performance between levels unclear/insignificant 3. Real progression in skills may be through broadening or deepening a learner’s skills and knowledge within a level rather than progressing to the next level 4. The level of complexity across different trades differs within the ‘same’ level 5. Equating level 2 vocational qualifications with GCSEs can be demotivating 6. A tendency to make assumptions that autonomy at level 3 equates to ‘supervision’ 7. A mismatch between skills for work and cognitive skills for Higher Education.

“We are actually assessing vocational students who have chosen a vocational route academically. We are possibly stopping those who could be the best trades people from progression simply because we are judging them on academic values.” Head of Construction in a Further Education College

Tha hank nks for l listeni ning ng