Assessing 'functionality' in school mathematics examinations: what does being human have to do with it?

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Drake, Pat, Wake, Geoff and Noyes, Andrew (2012) Assessing 'functionality' in school mathematics examinations: what does being human have to do with it? Research in Mathematics Education, 14 (3). pp. 237-252. ISSN 1479-4802 (print) 1754-0178 (online)

Abstract

This article analyses aspects of the process of developing ‘functional’ assessments of mathematics at the end of compulsory schooling in England. A protocol that was developed for scrutinising assessment items is presented. This protocol includes an indicator of the ‘authenticity’ of each assessment item. The data are drawn from scrutiny of 589 assessment items from thirty-nine formal unseen examinations taken by students aged sixteen, and the article illustrates ways that mathematics is presented in different contexts in examinations. We suggest that currently the ‘human face’ of the questions may serve to disguise routine calculations, and we argue that, in formal examinations, connections between mathematics assessments situated in context and functional mathematics have yet to be established

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Item type Article
URI https://vuir.vu.edu.au/id/eprint/23351
DOI 10.1080/14794802.2012.734969
Official URL http://0-www.tandfonline.com.library.vu.edu.au/doi...
Subjects Historical > Faculty/School/Research Centre/Department > School of Education
Historical > FOR Classification > 1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy
Keywords ResPubID25607, functional mathematics, authentic assessment, scrutiny protocol
Citations in Scopus 4 - View on Scopus
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