Is teaching experience necessary for reliable marking?

Abstract

Awarding meetings are essentially unchanged since their inception, with Senior examiners coming together to look at statistical information and candidates' work. Modern techniques permit different approaches to this process whilst preserving the validity of the process by incorporating the views of subject matter experts.

A virtual award meeting will be held using Virtual Classroom technology, with Senior examiners contributing to the meeting remotely. Senior examiners scrutinise scripts remotely and their judgements are collected electronically. The Chair of Examiners and staff establish zones of uncertainty and prepare other materials for the virtual award. The normal Awarding Committee are presented with the collated information and discuss it over a synchronised telephone conference. Scanning of the scripts and remote scrutiny opens up the possibility of including other stakeholders in the qualitative judgments process, such as examiners, teachers and even students. The source of judgements would need to be delineated, but it is possible that standard setting could be made more transparent to stakeholders. More modern approaches offer the opportunity to make the most of the Senior examiners? expertise and make the process more efficient and robust.

How to cite

Royal-Dawson, L., & Baird, J.-A. (2006). Is teaching experience necessary for reliable marking? Manchester: AQA Centre for Education Research and Policy.

Keywords

• Examiners
• Marking