Why does coursework benefit girls

It could mean that boys are offered the chance to sit exams while girls could have their GCSE graded just by coursework. The proposal could mean that boys are offered the chance to sit exams while girls could have their GCSE graded just by coursework.

Research has suggested that boys prefer traditional exam-based courses while girls prefer coursework, which is based over a prolonged period and does not depend on performance on a single day. Bill Alexander, AQA's director of curriculum and assessment, said: 'We could offer a route for boys that is very different to a route for girls. However, critics have slammed the idea, claiming it is impossible to generalise about the strengths of boys and girls in such a way.

John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, said:'It is extremely dangerous to get into gender stereotyping. There are lots of boys who like the investigative element of coursework as well. Last year a report by the Higher Education Policy Institute said the introduction of GCSEs to replace O'Levels in was the most likely cause of an achievement gap between the sexes.

The emphasis on coursework and continuous assessment in GCSEs appears to favour girls, the report concluded. But there was an unwillingness amongst bureaucrats to tackle the issue for fear of being seen to favour boys. The switch away from exam-only O'Levels has led to women outperforming men on almost every measure of university achievement, the study found.

More than 49 per cent of women go to university by the time they are 30 compared to 38 per cent of men. Women also do better at university when they get there.

The belief that boys are relatively weak in coursework has also been supported by changes in maths grades since coursework was scrapped in the subject three years ago. This change is said to have helped boys beat girls at GCSE maths last year for the first time since Exam chiefs said the results in maths showed the changes benefitted boys who prefer to cram for one-off exams.

However, girls remain decisively ahead in most subjects, which usually include a coursework element or some form of out-of-exam assessment. Argos AO. Privacy Policy Feedback.

Share or comment on this article: Exams for boys and coursework for girls: Exam board considers separate GCSEs for the sexes. Revision Resources Learning sociology starts here!!! Sociology revision books Answering Exam Questions. Gender and achievement gender and achievement , why are girls doing better than boys , why do boys underachieve.

This is in the context of a very high pass rate girls perform better than boys in terms of those attaining an A grade for the majority of subjects , which is a significant change over the last ten years more supporting data on gender and achievement It is worth noting at this point g ender is not the strongest predictor of attainment: social class attainment gap at Key Stage 4 as measured by percentage point difference in attainment between those eligible and not eligible for free school meals is three times as wide as the gender gap some minority ethnic groups attain significantly below the national average and their under-achievement is much greater than the gap between boys and girls Why are girls doing better than boys?

Micheal Barber found boys tend to over-estimate their ability, with GCSE results showing the opposite to be true Michelle Stanworth found boys dominated classroom interaction pushing girls to the margins which lowered their self-confidence and made them feel less valued hence girls underestimating their ability Dale Spender found teachers gave priority to boys giving the impression what girls said was less important A number of studies have identified the different ways teachers interact with boys and girls.

Howe found that such differences in interactions emerge very early, even in preschool. Masculine Identity Can Be Seen as Incompatible with Academic Success Forde boys are more likely to be influenced by their male peer group which might devalue schoolwork and so put them at odds with academic achievement. Best found little had changed in almost 20 years Kelly — gender stereotyping in science classrooms as well as science text books where women are largely invisible Gender and Education: the evidence Boys are Doctors, Girls are Nurses Return to education overview.

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Follow Following. Sign me up. Already have a WordPress. Log in now. Loading Comments Email Required Name Required Website. Receive today's headlines directly to your inbox every morning and evening, with our free daily newsletter. Enter email address This field is required Sign Up. He added: "I think schools will be working very hard on this for a very long time. And of the things that schools have become very good at is monitoring the progress of every single student.

Asked what could have led to boys doing better, he continued: "They teachers have worked very hard, they have used the data very effectively. They've used strategies - there has been a lot of research carried out into effective strategies that motivate boys and that help them to achieve better.

Cherry Ridgway, curriculum and assessment specialist at ASCL, said: "There is some compelling research which shows that in general girls perform better on controlled assessment and coursework, and boys perform better in their exams.