A review and analysis of assessment objectives of academic and vocational qualifications in English further education, with particular reference to creativity
Thirty‐six per cent of 18–19‐year‐old sixth‐form and further education college leavers in the UK currently go on to university. A majority of the remaining 64% apparently go into work or work‐related training. Yet, for this latter group, as with the former, 16–19 education was supposed by the Department for Education and Employment to equip them with the skills applicable in the workplace, where a student’s ability to apply skills and knowledge in a variety of contexts—i.e. creativity—is as important as having a qualification. Creative skills, according to the Construction Industry Training Board, are key requisite skills in the workplace and also key to job and business success. This paper examines the extent to which assessment objectives in the 16–19 education curriculum in England require students to demonstrate creative skills in their work, be it class assessment or external examinations. It finds that all but two subject specifications and syllabuses (in one discipline) explicitly state creativity as an assessment objective, although a few other subject specifications (in other disciplines) required candidates to demonstrate some creative skills in their work.
Something New in the Garden: Assessing Creativity in Academic Domains
Although not generally included in the classroom curricula of the past, creativity and creative thinking are emerging as important skills that can and should be taught. While considering current research and definitions of these constructs, this paper proposes an understanding of the construct of creativity as a skill that can be actively and constructively nurtured within the context of the classroom. Presenting empirical work in which analytical assessment and creative assessment data are collected from 1120 students within the same test of reading comprehension, and the psychometric properties of each are evaluated and compared using item-response theory (IRT), we share results that reflect the differentiation of skills and variations in analytical and creative competencies. By this means, we also pose a way of developing proficiency scales for creativity, as well as ways to naturally integrate the encouragement of creativity in the classroom.
Science Buddies: Advancing Informal Science Education
An innovative nonprofit enables scientists to present inspiring project ideas based on their own research to K–12 students, parents, and teachers. Every year, about 10 million North American kindergarten through high school (K–12) students complete a science project. What part of these science projects is the most difficult? Formulating a hypothesis? Designing an experiment? Analyzing data? The answer: None of the above. Science Buddies (www.sciencebuddies.org)—a nonprofit developer of software, content, and other resources for informal science and engineering education—found that students have the most difficulty selecting a topic and doing background research to inform their work. Meanwhile, scientists and engineers interested in advising and inspiring students often do not have a means to connect with them (see the first figure). To Science Buddies, these difficulties presented an ideal challenge, and we applied a business methodology to address them, viewing our users as customers and our output as products.