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Prioritising Progression over Proficiency: Limitations of Teacher-Based Assessment within Technician-Level Vocational Education

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Title: Prioritising Progression over Proficiency: Limitations of Teacher-Based Assessment within Technician-Level Vocational Education
Language: English
Authors: Carter, Alan, Bathmaker, Ann-Marie
Source: Journal of Further and Higher Education. 2017 41(4):460-474.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 15
Publication Date: 2017
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Technical Education, Evaluation Methods, Engineering Education, Criterion Referenced Tests, Case Studies, Formative Evaluation, Feedback (Response), College Faculty, Teacher Attitudes, Semi Structured Interviews
Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
DOI: 10.1080/0309877X.2015.1135881
ISSN: 0309-877X
Abstract: This article examines the evolution of assessment policy and practice in technician-level vocational education. Using the example of an advanced-level BTEC National programme in Engineering in one college in the UK, the article highlights how the origins of current assessment practice lie in genuine concerns since the late 1950s about the appropriateness of examination-based assessment for assessing technician engineering skills, resulting in a shift to teacher-based, criterion-referenced assessment and an emphasis on formative feedback. Data are presented from a case study of assessment practice in an engineering department of one college of further and higher education in the UK during the academic years 2006-2008, which investigated salient influences and considerations underpinning lecturers' constructs of assessment. The study found a departmental ethos of facilitating students to achieve a pass, and the use of assessment methods that would ensure that students got through. However, lecturers were dubious whether their assessment practices developed the proficiency required for students' progression into HE or employment, and their practices did not appear to have a strong educational or occupational rationale for their approach. We argue that the limitations of teacher-based, criterion-referenced assessment and associated formative assessment practices, of which our study provides an example, contribute to a temptation to simply return to what is deemed more rigorous assessment through examination, which however may well bring back the problems identified in the past, of inappropriate approaches for assessing technician-level skills associated with low success rates.
Abstractor: As Provided
Number of References: 73
Entry Date: 2017
Accession Number: EJ1142115
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
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  Data: Prioritising Progression over Proficiency: Limitations of Teacher-Based Assessment within Technician-Level Vocational Education
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  Data: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
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  Data: 10.1080/0309877X.2015.1135881
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  Data: This article examines the evolution of assessment policy and practice in technician-level vocational education. Using the example of an advanced-level BTEC National programme in Engineering in one college in the UK, the article highlights how the origins of current assessment practice lie in genuine concerns since the late 1950s about the appropriateness of examination-based assessment for assessing technician engineering skills, resulting in a shift to teacher-based, criterion-referenced assessment and an emphasis on formative feedback. Data are presented from a case study of assessment practice in an engineering department of one college of further and higher education in the UK during the academic years 2006-2008, which investigated salient influences and considerations underpinning lecturers' constructs of assessment. The study found a departmental ethos of facilitating students to achieve a pass, and the use of assessment methods that would ensure that students got through. However, lecturers were dubious whether their assessment practices developed the proficiency required for students' progression into HE or employment, and their practices did not appear to have a strong educational or occupational rationale for their approach. We argue that the limitations of teacher-based, criterion-referenced assessment and associated formative assessment practices, of which our study provides an example, contribute to a temptation to simply return to what is deemed more rigorous assessment through examination, which however may well bring back the problems identified in the past, of inappropriate approaches for assessing technician-level skills associated with low success rates.
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      – SubjectFull: Evaluation Methods
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