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.
The Constraints of Knowledge
People sometimes speak as though knowledge has little to do with creativity, or even prevents it. This dismissive attitude toward the role of cognition in creativity takes two main forms.
The Intuitive Physics of the Equilibrium of the Lever and of the Hydraulic Pressures: Implications for the Teaching of Elementary Physics.
The research field of intuitive physics focuses on discrepancies between 
theoretical and intuitive physical knowledge. Consideration of these 
discrepancies can help in the teaching of elementary physics. However, 
evidence shows that theoretical and intuitive physical knowledge may also 
be congruent. Physics teaching could further benefit from understanding the 
reasons for this congruence. The present study explored these reasons by 
investigating the intuitive physics of the equilibrium of the lever and of the 
hydraulic pressures. It was found that the intuitive-physics law of the lever 
was multiplicative for all participants while the intuitive-physics law of the 
hydraulic pressures differed among participants. Since these laws are 
equally simple and the layman probably has had extensive experience with 
the lever and scarce or no experience with the hydraulic lift, these findings 
support the general hypothesis that physical laws and corresponding 
intuitive-physics laws are congruent when people have had experience with 
the respective phenomena. The results and theoretical considerations suggest 
two strategic principles for teaching elementary physics.