David,
What strikes me most of all about this debate: incorrect answers, repeating
a small number of topics in an examination series is that the problem
appears to be two fold
an examiner problem
a supplier - customer problem
That is, there are apparent problems with the work of the examiner: I had a
look at the AQA site yesterday and saw advertisements for examiners and co
and put together a hierarchy that included chief examiners, examiners,
assistant examiners, moderators ... and still errors are creeping through (I
think you might say hurtling through, David). I have come across similar
problems on this thread before, of course, but still we seem to be stuck
without a formal feedback mechanism that works. Just take a look at
budgeting and budgetary control for open and closed feedback loops and tell
me if you spot workable examples of such systems in the examinations game.
It strikes me that the concerns you voice are familiar and yet in my
trawling through three Exam Board web sites over the last few days, I have
seen more and more books that have been written by Chief Examiners and
Examiners ... and still these problem exist? Are the books the problem? I
did notice an error in one of the syllabuses, by the way, that I know has
found its way into at least a range of texts: we discussed that problem at
the turn of the year. Something spooky, don't you think?
It is obvious that there is cause for concern yet we have the same concerns
now as we did a year ago; and the year before that; and the year before
that.
In terms of the supplier - customer problem, it strikes me that many of the
Examination Boards' clients (on two levels they are teachers and candidates;
but I appreciate that alternative views would have candidates as their only
clients whereas others would include parents and universities and employers)
are failing adequately to satisfy their clients. In the traditional subjects
there seem to be fewer problems: maths and English do have persistent
problems but they were persistent problems decades ago; and their problems
don't appear to be of the same type as the problems we are discussing here.
Since we are concerned with Business Studies, why not take a business
approach? If Tesco is dissatisfied with a supplier, what does it do? If
AMSTRAD's products fail to captivate the market, what should AMSTRAD do? If
customers are dissatisfied with the products of an Examinations Board, what
should they do?
In my previous posting, I recommended a round table approach and I still do.
If you are telling me that the round table approach has already been tried
and has failed, then it's time to move onto the next phase.
Take a look at capital budgeting and take the eight step approach you'll
commonly find, including: identify an opportunity, research the issues, look
for alternatives, evaluate the alternatives ... MAKE A DECISION.
Hope this is useful.
Duncan
I've deleted prior postings since they are huge.
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