My reply is probably to be expected but that does not make it any the less
accurate (or any the less anecdotal).
It has long been my view (and, I hasten to stress) the view of some other
teachers that the AEB offers the most "accessible" syllabus. In fact my own
students rarely take longer than one term to pass AEB Business Studies. It
used to be just a few days but with the change of method of examination they
study for a couple of weeks in December, a week in January and then a month
in the summer. In 15 years of teaching none of my own private students (if of
GCSE grade A/B level in Mathematics and English) have failed.I mention this
not for self-glorification but as an indicator as to the possible standard of
examination.
I hesistated to use the phrase "AEB is the easiest board" as I have been
banned from one discussion list and have no particular wish to be banned from
this one. What I would say is that for Business Studies the AEB is certainly
the biggest board and the one most attuned to market needs. They are the
quickest to respond and their "products" i.e. the marking scheme are cheaper
than the London Board I believe.
In addition to this they have by far the highest profile. Once you know the
name of the Chief Examiner (Ian Marcouse) then it is very easy to attend a
confeernce where he is a speaker; send pupils to an Easter Course where he is
one of the teachers; buy a book written by him; buy software written/advised
on by him; read a magazine of which he is the editor/on the editorial board
etc etc In that way it is relatively easy to find out the way the board is
going, the way the Chief Examiner is thinking. Much the same can be said
about Andrew Gillespie (who teaches in Oxford btw) as he too teaches on
Easter Course I believe and also seems a prolific writer in both magazines
and as author of textbooks.
Whether or not this is a good thing or not is not the point. My point is that
the AEB are more accessible as a board (for Business Studies) and their
question setters are far more clearly in evidence.
During the past year I have visited many schools doing conferences etc and
the ones that teach the AEB often say that they have actually met Mr Marcouse
which, as far as I know, cannot be said about the other boards.
In terms of the type of questions I would imagine that the AEB sets similar
questions to other boards but unlike Nuffield does not seem to depend on any
one particular book, though the A-Z book by Ian Marcouse is invaluable.
Perhaps one difference is in the frequency of modular examinations. Where,
because of school policy, I am forced to teach AEB over two years my pupils
sit modules 5,6,7 in Jan of the first year and then in June and Jan and June
again. In this way they have a far higher chance of getting the grade A they
aspire to. I do not think this facility is necessarily available with other
boards - at least to that extent. In this way the pupils become "exam
proficient" whereas with the linear approach in the mainstream sector it is
not possible to have so many mock exams.
There are many other things that could be said about Business Studies but I
will leave it there for the moment.
Chris Sivewright
www.osl-ltd.co.uk
Roram wrote:
> Don't worry
> try again
> In Spanish: "no te rindas"
> Roberto from Argentina
> -----Mensaje original-----
> De: [log in to unmask]
> <[log in to unmask]>
> Para: RoRam <RoRam>
> Fecha: Miércoles, 10 de Marzo de 1999 07:42 p.m.
> Asunto: A-level Business Studies NDTEF 9078 (London)
>
> >This is a cry from the heart!
> >We have today received the results of the modules which our Y13 BS
> >students sat in January.
> >They were appalling. The colleague who runs the course is devastated.
> >Although we wont see the actual grades until tomorrow, we've been able
> >to work out rough boundaries from the data which we got today. From a
> >group of 22, we have so far achieved 1 A, 1B, some Ds and Es. Half the
> >group has failed. We have only offered BS at A-level since September
> >1997, so we have had no previous experience to draw on, and no support
> >from NDTEF or London. We don't know where, or how, we've gone wrong,
> >but clearly there are major problems. Can I ask anyone who also offers
> >this syllabus what their feelings are about it, and what they think of
> >the exams. Our impression is that the exam papers seem to be based on a
> >very narrow part of the syllabus for each module. We have contacted the
> >Board today and asked for a Centre report, although this will apparently
> >require a complete remark. My colleague felt that she was dealt with in
> >a very off-hand manner, and wondered whether the Board had had a lot of
> >similar calls from Centres today. My colleague is a very experienced
> >and successful teacher of BS at GCSE. My input to the course came about
> >because I teach A-level economics. If our students had failed the
> >modules that I taught, I would have put it down to my inexperience with
> >the subject and the syllabus, but the results have been awful for both
> >of us - in fact, mine were marginally better (though that isn't saying
> >anything!!). If anyone can offer any thoughts, suggestions,
> >commiserations, shoulders to cry on, or a good letter of resignation, we
> >would be eternally grateful. I should perhaps add that we have changed
> >to AEB with the present Y12, and have found the level of support already
> >to be much greater. That doesn't help our kids in Y13 though.....
> >
> >
> >
> >
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|