I want to share some data digging I have done recently.
I was interested to see the inquiry our English domain had done on their year 12 exams. Basically, they looked at all the verbs used to introduce short answer questions such as ‘explain’, ‘describe’, ‘analyse’ and so forth. They then did a lesson on all those words to help their students better understand the requirements of the final exam.
I thought it was a good idea so I went through all the IT Application exams from 2007 - 2014 and made a list of all the instructional verbs. You can see the raw data by clicking the link below.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18kvZc2hcXl6CeYTgGsnzUg-CA43FJLPZDfCCzdtp-B0/edit?usp=sharing
Here’s a list of the words and the number of times they occur. It’s easy to see the most popular words but keep in mind the chart represents words used inclusively over the last seven years. The picture changes when we focus on the list for the last two years.
‘Explain’ and ‘recommend’ still lead the way but the list is noticeably shorter.
I then decided to match the verbs against Bloom's Taxonomy and chart it. This is what it looks lor the years 2007 and 2008. Note the missing analysing section.
And now compare it with 2013 - 2014
So what do I learn from this? It looks like there is a swing away from lower order thinking (remembering, understanding and applying) to more of an emphasis on analysing, evaluating and, to some extent, creating. This will help me direct my teaching. I can now help my student better understand the exam requirements and also focus in on their skills of expressing their higher order thinking.
Wow =- that's great analysis Phil! And it gives you a real indication as to where you can head with your teaching...and then explore the digital tools you can use to fulfil/support/extend and enable this higher order thinking (it also links in nicely with what we've been saying about C21 skills doesn't it?)
ReplyDeleteSuch interesting data Phil. ...would be great to see it done for other subjects like art and studio art, also.
ReplyDeleteWouldnt it be intereting to try and capture the same data from the language teachers use during instruction....i wonder what would be revealed. Could be very powerful.