Thanks Jenny although it's not immediately apparent from the materials
available what additional information could be given to candidates at exam
time.
Duncan Williamson
-----Original Message-----
From: Economics, business, and related subjects
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jenny Wales
Sent: 20 June 2003 08:26
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Business Studies/Accounting
Duncan
Have a look at Edexcel's website. www.edexcel.org.uk
Jenny
----- Original Message -----
From: "Duncan Williamson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 8:57 PM
Subject: Re: Business Studies/Accounting
I should look at that material, Jenny: is it on line ... just to save me a
bit of digging if you can!
Duncan Williamson
-----Original Message-----
From: Economics, business, and related subjects
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jenny Wales
Sent: 19 June 2003 11:14
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Business Studies/Accounting
Nuffield Economics and Business has pre-issued material plus a little more
on the day.
This is not only aimed at overcoming the problem Duncan raises but making
life easier for teachers because there are two testing opportunities to use
the pre-issued material.
Jenny
----- Original Message -----
From: "Duncan Williamson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 10:01 AM
Subject: Re: Business Studies/Accounting
You are aware that around 94% to 95% of all entrants to last year's A level
exams earned a grade A to C ... even though it's a fact, it can't be right.
In my day (well, someone had to say it!) an A level was an academic subject
and they were, just about, all 'traditional'. Whilst I don't have an opinion
to express here on 'traditional' v 'modern' subjects, there are clearly
things that are going wrong if we believe that as many as 95% of our A level
candidates are of such high standard. David Haynes rightly points out that a
candidate can take an element of a subject and fail it but then a retake of
that element will be used without any penalty whatsoever to upgrade the
overall grade should the candidate have succeeded in the retake. Again, no
value judgement here from me: it simply means that whilst a candidate might
in fact have earned a grade E then another E then another E then a C from
successive retakes, the final grade will be recorded as a C. The key
argument here is probably that the candidate has been given a chance to
prove his worth.
Case study based papers can be a real challenge to candidates: I have taken
such exams at undergraduate and post graduate levels and have set them at
such levels too. The right case set in the right way can be a brilliant way
of testing a wide variety of skills: from 1 to 6 in Bloom's Cognitive
Taxonomy and in his Affective Domain too. However, I did point out the other
day for the AQA GCSE Business Studies case on Cadbury Schweppes that there
is a serious potential problem when the case is not so carefully
constructed. I am waiting with baited breath for the AQA results to be
published.
Many people have questioned the complexity and appropriacy of some of the A
level business studies case study papers, too; and I have to say that in my
opinion some of the cases are inadequate for the purpose. A good candidate
really can spend only a few hours mugging up in preparation for some of the
pre seen cases that have been used in the past. Other candidates can just
learn the vocabulary and turn up to the BS exam and take a flyer and pass.
I think the LSE would argue that they tend to agree with what I have written
and then extend the argument to say, that since one can't simply mug up on
maths, French, history, Art ... they must be better than BS. By the way,
it's not possible to mug up on accounting either but I think the LSE has
another prejudice up its sleeve there!
I stand to be corrected here but I think I am right in saying that once a
case study has been issued, if it's a pre seen case, then there will be no
additional information supplied to candidates, errata excepted. Although
having cases plus additional previously unseen information won't solve all
problems, at least it will force the good student to think more deeply and
keenly about the subject, anticipate the possible twists and turns. In the
resources I prepared for the Cadbury case I went to the Cadbury web site,
downloaded the latest accounting information, found just about all the
sources that the examiner had used (and found a couple of his mistakes),
added additional information and from all of that put together a batch of
resources that would prepare a diligent user of them for at least an honest
A grade. In the end, the additional resources weren't needed since the
examiner took the minimalist approach.
So for all subjects we have seen a flood of resources coming into the
bookshops, into schools and on the Web: more than ever before without a
shadow of a doubt. There are more resources being developed daily, again
without a shadow of a doubt. This trend partly explains why the average
grade for an A level has shifted upwards. The modular and retake
philosophies have also caused a shift in the average attainment levels of
the average A level candidate. Candidates and their teachers are becoming
more exam focused than before: for my own A levels I was left to fend for
myself, along with all of the other tens of thousands of kids whose teachers
couldn't even think about proper examination coaching!
Then we have the final, crunch, question: why is the LSE picking on BS and
Accounting? After all, the 94% - 95% 'success' rate relates to ALL subjects,
not just BS and Accounting. Well, the LSE is a business related institution
for want of a better way of putting it and that will make them prejudiced:
biased against, in my opinion. I don't think the exam materials we see being
used in BS are helping our case in any way either, as I've said.
In the end, we really are dealing with the standards in our examinations
including our own BS. Now the problem is, of course, if BS went out on a
limb and set more realistic case studies and exercises in its papers, the
pass rate would settle down to much less than the 95% we have come to love
and revere and then where would we be?
Duncan Williamson
-----Original Message-----
From: Economics, business, and related subjects
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ax Smith
Sent: 19 June 2003 08:57
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Business Studies/Accounting
... which brings us to the bigger picture debate as to whether standards
are falling or not. If the general standard required to score highly in A-
levels hadn't fallen so tremendously over the years (my assertion and solid
belief), maybe premier institutions such as the LSE would not frown upon
the new kids on the block (i.e. subjects like Business Studies).
Universities are saying that their intake are finding it increasingly
difficult to cope with their fresher year in the more academic subjects,
and at the same time we are getting record numbers of A grades. There is
clearly something wrong here. The Government's assertion is that our kids
are doing better and, on a literal basis, they are (higher grades). But I
doubt whether one of us on this forum would deny that securing an A grade
in 2003 requires the same quality of response, knowledge-base, analytical
and evaluative skills as securing an A grade in the same subject 10 years
ago. Further evidence is gained directly from the university entrance
conditions. For example, gone are the days when an ABB (or even lower) was
sufficient for entry to the Economics degree to the LSE. It is now a
straightforward case of AAA.
Perhaps if A-levels were made more of a challenge, then the premier higher
educational institutions would look at an A grade in Business Studies in
the same light as an A grade as the so-called "traditional" subjects. This
is because there would be a relative scarcity of A grades around (which is
as it should be, in my view).
Alternatively, perhaps some equivalent of the S-Level (an additional higher
level paper, which would genuinely stretch A-level students) should be
introduced, and if the appropriate level was reached in S-Level Business
Studies (in combination with a grade A at A-level Business Studies), this
student's application should be given preference over a student who has
obtained a grade A at A-level Economics with no S-level or a lower grade S-
level score than the Business Studies student.
The way things are now, with every Tom, Dick and Sally getting A grades,
premier universities continue to look down upon Business Studies relative
to the "traditional" subjects. This is just not right.
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