Head of AQA: exams could be online within 3 years

[noblegiraffe]

Colin Hughes, head of AQA has been interviewed:

Mr Hughes said he would support the launch of “national pilots” for “on-screen assessment”, and that it would take just three years to go from the today’s “totally paper-based” system to having some modules on computers…

Computer-based exams would have a range of benefits, he said, such as making it possible to set “adaptive” tests that tailor themselves to each student – getting harder or easier depending on how the student answers questions, to more accurately pinpoint their ability.

Because pupils would all sit slightly different tests, adaptive tests could eventually revolutionise the school calendar, removing the need for a summer exam season.

Instead, students could take the tests on a “when-ready basis”, which would be “arguably fairer”, said Mr Hughes.”

He also says that issues with lack of computers was something that could easily be sorted. I’m not sure how, tbh.

I read stuff like this and think ‘fgs another overhaul of the exams system is not what we need right now.

I also really don’t want kids sitting maths exams on a computer.

inews.co.uk/news/education/gcses-a-levels-2022-computer-based-exams-online-tests-aqa-1308135

I just find it really really hard to imagine GCSE maths being done on computer by the lower 50% of pupils.

I think that's a really fair point. Most people struggle to imagine anyone word processing maths, let alone children with SN because we dont do it.

I remember years back I was the first person to type my English essays pretty much in my whole school at about year 8. They looked poor layout wise compared to how slick word is now and the technology was clunky at best. My teacher wasnt convinced it would (or should) catch on not least because I wouldn't be able to type everything for the rest of my working life and it didnt show my ability to do English properly. I persevered because I knew my hand couldn't keep up with my brain. My hand ached and my handwriting becomes increasingly unintelligible as the essay goes on (heaven only knows how I got through my exams!) Now I know I have Hypermobility. My daughter is actually allowed to type exams because of her Hypermobility and that's considered relatively normal. In real life people type way more often than they pick up a pen.

My one with extensive SN types in word with predictive text and it helps him to achieve way more independently than he ever could otherwise. Noone can read his handwriting, and he definitely cant spell and often he cant write in sentences. His written English is unintelligible. He can however work independently in word to tell you about ambition in Macbeth, how the descriptions of the buildings contribute to the atmosphere of Jekyll and Hyde and about sabbatarianism in Victorian times in relation to Christmas Carol. Without a doubt he has gained the most and yet my year 8 teacher couldn't even imagine word processing catching on for the majority.

Computer written equations have the benefit of being way easier to check (for both teacher and pupil) and easier to correct for stupid mistakes. Theres no handwriting issues or "is that a 4 or a 7". The layout is clearer so it's often actually easier to work our what you are trying to do or where you have got stuck. That has huge benefits to the "bottom 50%"

As more people realise the benefits the interface will improve and whole process will become normalised.

Who knows. One day we might even realise times tables and mental arithmetic arent the be all and end all given the ubiquity of calculators. This would certainly speed up the transition and may also benefit the huge numbers of kids who can operate a calculator and actually can do maths but cant remember 7 ×8

Maybe computer based exams means someday in the future my DS with SN might not be written off for the fact he can barely hand write for 5mins let alone 1.5 hours and instead he might be ability to show how well he can do trigonometry for example.

He might even be able to take his GCSEs from home in a pandemic.

It might be hard to imagine, both typing maths and computer based exams, but those that we have the most difficulty imagining doing it may be the ones who have the most to gain by trying.

It’s how you do maths.

Now. It's how you do maths now.

We dont write with a stylus and wax tablets, quill and ink, or chalk boards.

Yet past mathematicians used all these things. Then.

It took an old codger like me only a couple of years on word equation editor to get to get from "oh that was slow and was it worth it" to "ugg handwriting just looks scruffy". Imagine how easy kids would find it if it was something they had always had exposure to whilst doing simple equations first.

MS-DOS looked incredibly unfathomable when it first came out. Then came windows and a mouse. Ms-Dos may actually be quicker and the purists will still pick windows over Dos but suddenly more people found it accessible and more people were using computers. Now were on windows 11(?) The interface has improved enormously (probably).
Most people have a good idea of how to use it for what they need. As demand increases it will get easier to use.

Although honestly word equation editor really isnt bad.

Loads of subjects already do on-screen assessment...City & Guilds do Functional Skills and various vocational subjects (just a small example)

I think this is a terrible idea because something technical always goes wrong. There would never be enough computers. Many students already word process exams and there's enough issues with that to begin with...logins won't work (as they obviously need new separate login credential for every student taking an exam), network down, internet down, work can be lost.

I think a lot of school have poor and outdated IT equipment. If you expect kids to type in an exam you have to make it their usual way of working.I don’t think it would be a bad idea as many workplaces are paper free and kids IT skills are not at a high enough level for the current world of work.

Although honestly word equation editor really isnt bad.

I use it all the time. It's not great. I certainly wouldn't think 'oh, I need to work out this maths problem, I'll just load up Word.'

I can’t see how maths exams could ever be as fluent a system for students as open and paper. Think about typing: you know the position of the words, you just need a small number of different characters, so all you’re selecting is which character.

Compare with maths: do you want to write something superscript or subscript? Which Greek letter are you about to use? Actually, do you want to draw a graph? An accurate bar chart, or a sketch of a function? Selecting all of these, the placement and the many different choices, is always going to take way longer on a computer than telling your hand what to do.

And the way we’re usually solving that kind of problem with computers is to make the computer anticipate what you need, eg predictive text. But that won’t work for an exam, because that would be giving students the answers.

But to be fair, AQA’s own maths examiners are probably going “wtaf did you just say” right now as well.

*as a pen and paper

It’s how you do maths.

DD is tutoring GCSE and A Level maths students. They do it over Zoom, using a stylus and graphics pad to write equations, graphs etc by hand and a shared screen like a write on/wipe off whiteboard.

Totally understand the issues with resources in schools and that we are probably years off the point where the could work for big classes or exams being sat by hundreds. But it's also not true that pencil and paper is the only way to do maths.

You do maths by hand. Stylus, wax, chalkboard, tablet. It’s all your hand drawing stuff on a surface.

Typing stuff onto Equation Editor is not how you do maths.

Yes but that’s all the disadvantages of computers (cost, cheating) without much advantage surely? As pp have said, exams are already scanned and marked on screen. This shifts the admin/tech burden of getting handwriting into a screen from being an exam board’s job to being a school’s job. I don’t think that’s the direction we should be moving in.

I would say it’d be good for the small number of scripts that get lost in transit, but tbh would probably be replaced by scripts lost due to tech issues 🤷‍♀️

Sorry, mine was in response to AchickencalledDahl

Teachers are wedded to paper because that is what they have

DH's school bought every teacher a Surface Pro. Every pupil also has one. They have all had a lot of training and given access to digital software and resources. There is still a core ignoring the computers and giving out photocopied worksheets and insisting the boys carry homework diaries as they won't load the work onto Teams.

What's being proposed is a huge culture shift which will take a really long time to achieve.

I've also said previously, there is no way state maintained schools (where I teach) have the resources to get anywhere close. AQA's 3 year timescale is cuckoo land.

There is nothing you can write on a piece of paper that you couldn't write on a surface with a pen. However, it takes a lot of practise to be equally good with a stylus as you are with a pencil. Those kids in my friend's prep school who have been writing on their Surfaces from Y3 are going to be at quite the advantage if exams go that way in their time.

I can't see it not ending up that way eventually though.

I think there's two spectate issues here. I've recently become a chartered accountant and the majority of the exams (some of which are very maths and equation heavy) are computer based. They work fine, within the exam you have access to a word processor, a spreadsheet function and a scratch pad, as well as actual paper if you want to use that for written workings (as with GCSE if you get the answer wrong you can still get marks for your workings). There's also a PowerPoint style bit in the final exam.

However the main issue is obviously going to be the implementation. Pupils would need to be learning using these types of software from the get go. I don't think they need to be taught per se as you just pick it up as you go along and between years 7 - and 11 would become much quicker, but implementing the required IT is just not going to happen.

Thinking about this more overnight I think I confused 'computer' with typing / multi choice.

If a stylus could be used like a pen and then gaps between questions expanding as much as the student needed (there tends to be insufficient space for DD in maths exams) then I can see it could work.

However as many PP have posted, the more complicated the technology the more important that good regular use of it outside of exams becomes. and which pupils / schools are going to have the best access to this technology from the youngest age?

At least pen and paper with computers for particular SEN keeps the playing field level between rich and poor.

I refer you to this years BMAT exam. An exam run by Cambridge for medics to certain Universities. Was run on line. And was a total disaster. Now students are left not knowing how their mitigating circumstances of a crashing paper every 5 minutes will affect their chance to become a doctor. 2nd year there have been issues.
Bristol Unis exams on line last year and first day the whole system crashed.
Not sure I'd have much faith in on line exams for tens of thousands at same time.

As someone with experience of onscreen exams and online exams (important that there is a distinction here), they will come with as many problems - probably more problems that the issues they will be brought in to solve.

1. Having enough computers, plug sockets and a room/hall big enough so that they are properly spaced out to prevent cheating, will probe a very expensive and logistical nightmare of circa 210 pupils need to sit at the same time.

1. Currently CATs tests are completed online and this takes many weeks for each Form group to complete and much re-rooming of Computing lessons at that time. If entire months at a time (factor in multiple mock exam sessions plus the months of public exams, don’t be surprised of your child actually has very little time to learn how to use the computers in the first place (and GCSE and A Level Computer Science and the vocational ICT courses would die a death.

1. I have been part of the AQA A Level Computer Science onscreen exams for many many years and this was previously only achievable due to the past low numbers on the course (less than 10) but even then, teachers would have to be off timetable to supervise the technical issues (of which there are always many) and pupils always run out of time/waste time printing-which has to be done during the exam and not after. As my class number grew, I have had to switch to OCR which has no onscreen exam, for both GCSE and A Level because I cannot logistically organise 100+ students needing a computer in a big enough space.

1. Onscreen vs online. Online has issues with cheating. Currently for SEND pupils with computer concessions, they have no access to the Internet. It is actually very hard to allow an app to run with an internet connection, whilst turning it off for other apps/browsers. Cheating would be an issue.

1. There are other issues including the need to have the pupils all sit them at the same time, rather than over a 48 hr period to allow for the space/tech issue to be solved. You would never be able to stop pupils talking about it, as was the case only this last Friday with Imperial College’s online admissions test for Computer Science. Even the forum The Student Room is always awash with pupils talking about it, so often pupils wait until close to the end of the 24 hour period so that they have an advantage.

There are other issues but as always, teachers and Exams Officers will never be listened to by Ofqual and the Exam Boards and their ‘consultations’ will just be paying lip service.

In summary, it’s a stupid idea with the current underfunding of education in this country.

@ChloeDecker’s post above says it all.

If a stylus could be used like a pen and then gaps between questions expanding as much as the student needed (there tends to be insufficient space for DD in maths exams) then I can see it could work.

Well yes, but now we're well into fantasy land. Schools would now need devices with keyboards for essay subjects that would transform into a tablet for maths/science subjects and enough decent quality styluses. These are hugely expensive!

@noblegiraffe

Why would you not want to see online exams?

I'm a maths teacher. Typing maths on a computer actually interferes with the ability to do the maths because you're too busy thinking about how to type it to be able to think properly about the question.

used to work for a pharma company many years ago. There was a similar problem with inputting the chemical symbols and formulas. We used a solution where a wacom input device was used and we trained it to recognize the specific symbols. By now the issue is not the recognition, but the input device. And that wacom or similar inputs are not general.
It is a very cheap piece of hardware that works like any input device: plug'n'play. and kids would use the pen to write, just not on a piece of paper, but on a device. another solution would be to go tablet and not pc route, where this is inbuilt.

input devices can be purchased from about 20 quids.

DS with SEN is allowed use of computer in all subjects but sat GCSEs on paper for maths, (and science papers) because the computer interfered with him doing the maths. He couldn’t think in his way and translate those thoughts onto the page with the same fluency, (he needs to play with it to get it ordered in his head, but needs this on the paper in case he makes transcription errors etc). Plus his processing disorder means he writes all over his paper to get down what he knows - especially important for him in questions involving diagrams, geometry, graphs etc. as he struggles to turn shapes into information.
He’s now doing it a level so is a very competent mathematician but these questions wouldn’t have been fair for him in an online exam.

If they spend a good few years getting the questions adapted/styled so they definitely work in an online exam for all students, and then allow at least a few years to get the kids well practiced in this new style that they’re not used to - well then maybe. But this is no quick and easy switch over.

An education system that can’t afford glue sticks is unlikely to run to much tech.

If going with a stylus for maths, the question would then be: what is the advantage to children of this route over and above paper?
I'm not convinced cases like my DD of 'not enough space' couldn't be more easily rectified by putting more space on the paper (after all English manage to provide loads of writing space).

I'd trial computers for essay based A levels first, and work down from there. At least starting at A level you are dealing with the more able and mature pupils.

if it is a question of doing the same old just on computers, than there is no real benefit.
the actual benefit would be to have a shift in mindset from one off exams that are the single point of truth and define a child's ability, to controlled and continuous assessment, that give a much better overview of how a child is developing.*
imagine a scenario where all kids' homework and schoolwork is online. and not in the form of uploaded jpgs in g.classroom, but properly done - as data points.
the analysis options (both human and automated AI) would be huge.
I would also say that in this kind of ecosystem individual teacher prep work for a class could be cut massively. Teachers could have the time, headspace to actually focus on teaching, helping, mentoring. not administrating and ticking boxes.
Imo an ecosystem like this could work well if individual teachers would contribute (and have to) to content. The biggest trap of any such system would be the centralized content management (from the actual info of what is in the lesson, not as in content management system), but if xx thousand teachers contributed and these contributions would be peer reviewed/vetted and then made available that could help a lot.

*also is a lot closer to real life. I rarely see one off perf evaluations. In adult life it is more about the overall performance over x months.

I’m possibly alone in regretting the disappearance of the coursework element in GCSE Maths. And the amusingly named Mental Test.