http://www.educommunity.co.uk/wordpress/2006/03/06/course-work-and-afl/ Collaboration and Innovation Tools for a Learning Community Tue, 07 Mar 2006 15:19:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.educommunity.co.uk/wordpress/2006/03/06/course-work-and-afl/comment-page-1/#comment-2 jwoodhouse Tue, 07 Mar 2006 15:19:33 +0000 http://www.educommunity.co.uk/wordpress/2006/03/06/course-work-and-afl/#comment-2 As an old cynical English teacher, I'm afraid that I think we need to clarify the rules around exam coursework before we entangle it any further. English GCSE used to be examined 100% coursework. This was (probably rightly) thought to be too open to both genuine differences in opinion between teacher/markers and to out-and-out cheating. We now have written coursework accounting for 20% of the final mark and a widespread uncertainty about where the boundary lies between teaching through coursework (a 'good' thing involving AfL), and intervening to such an extent that the finished product is not 'the candidate's unaided work' (a 'bad' thing which undermines the fairness of the exam). All this without the problem of plagiarism via the net. In my view we need to think very clearly and honestly about the purpose and use of (a) assessment OF learning (particularly public exams) and (b) assessment FOR learning. Exam coursework muddies the water and will, I believe, not be around for too many years. As an old cynical English teacher, I’m afraid that I think we need to clarify the rules around exam coursework before we entangle it any further. English GCSE used to be examined 100% coursework. This was (probably rightly) thought to be too open to both genuine differences in opinion between teacher/markers and to out-and-out cheating. We now have written coursework accounting for 20% of the final mark and a widespread uncertainty about where the boundary lies between teaching through coursework (a ‘good’ thing involving AfL), and intervening to such an extent that the finished product is not ‘the candidate’s unaided work’ (a ‘bad’ thing which undermines the fairness of the exam).
All this without the problem of plagiarism via the net.
In my view we need to think very clearly and honestly about the purpose and use of (a) assessment OF learning (particularly public exams) and (b) assessment FOR learning. Exam coursework muddies the water and will, I believe, not be around for too many years.

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