This research draws on evidence from three qualifications taken in autumn 2020, when comparative judgement (CJ) was used as a key source of data in setting grade boundaries. In these cases, a separate CJ exercise was completed for each individual paper in the qualification so that standards could be maintained from a previous series. In this…

Background: Argumentation, that is the coordination of evidence and reasons to support claims, is an important skill for democratic society, developing subject-specific literacies, and can be embedded in multiple school subjects. While argumentation has been extensively researched in science education, interdisciplinary argumentation is less…

An ongoing debate concerns whether novel mathematical concepts are better learned using contextualised or decontextualised representations. A barrier to resolving this debate, and therefore to progress in the discipline, has been the paucity of validated methods of measuring students' understanding of mathematical concepts. We developed an…

This study sought to assess the level of secondary students' scientific literacy in suburban schools in Malaysia and England, a research area which to date has not been fully explored in the literature. The study analyzed the data using the OECD's three domain-specific competencies of scientific literacy, namely: (i) explain phenomena…

People make inferences about the trustworthiness of others based on their observed gaze behavior. Faces that consistently look toward a target location are rated as more trustworthy than those that look away from the target. Representations of trust are important for future interactions; yet little is known about how they are consolidated in…

Primary and secondary school teachers in the London area discuss their understanding and operationalising of the concept of ability as applied to their students. Combining elements of achievement and potential, 'ability' is not clearly and consistently defined by teachers and is, strictly speaking, not a necessary concept since other terms account…

This article investigates the role of emotions of inspectors while inspecting schools as reported by inspectors themselves within an education context of increased accountability that arguably privileges rationality over emotions. The study is built on an emotion management framework that regards emotions not only as unavoidably natural and…

Classroom-based assessments have the potential to enhance validity by facilitating the assessment of important skills that are difficult to assess in written examinations. Such assessments tend to be marked by teachers. To ensure consistent marking standards, quality assurance procedures are needed. In the context of continued debate over the…

In recent years the use of expert judgement to set and maintain examination standards has been increasingly criticised in favour of approaches based on statistical modelling. This paper reviews existing research on this controversy and attempts to unify the evidence within a framework where expertise is utilised in the form of comparative…

This article highlights the changing role of special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCos) in England. SENCos are now required to manage change strategically and deliver inclusive school cultures. A school-based evaluative study undertaken by a teacher who is studying for the postgraduate National Award for SEN Co-ordination (NASENCO) for…

This paper outlines how examining student teachers' perceptions of the use of seminars in HE led to reflections about the role and significance of seminars in initial teacher education (ITE). Whilst the generic literature on student learning provides useful insights about how they approach their learning and tutors' teaching strategies, we know…

When people evaluate conclusions, they are often influenced by prior beliefs. Prevalent theories claim that "belief bias" affects the quality of syllogistic reasoning. However, recent work by Dube, Rotello, and Heit (2010) has suggested that belief bias may be a simple response bias. In Experiment 1, receiver operating characteristic…

Research with adults has demonstrated a "black sheep effect" (BSE) whereby, relative to evaluations of normative group members, ingroup deviants are derogated more than outgroup deviants. The developmental subjective group dynamics (DSGD) model holds that the BSE should develop during middle childhood when children apply wider social…

This study investigated metacognitive monitoring abilities in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder in two experiments using the judgment-of-learning paradigm. Participants were asked to predict their future recall of unrelated word pairs during the learning phase. Experiment 1 compared judgments-of-learning made immediately after learning and…

This paper uses evidence from focus groups with consumers in England to consider how consumers understand and evaluate a range of proxies or intermediary organisations that offer assurance about food and consumer products, particularly voluntary certification schemes. This addresses the current concern in developed economies about providing…