Tips for Teaching Math/Science Diploma Exam Courses

 The CRC recently hosted a presentation aimed towards providing tips to teachers that are teaching a Math or Science 30 level course for the first time.   Presenters Stan Bissell and Pearl Nijjar, representatives of Alberta Education -  Education Program Standards and Assessment Branch,  provided information, resources and additional contacts to help clarify questions and procedures relating to Diploma Exams. 

The three fold purpose of Diploma Exams, as intended by Alberta Education, was identified as follows:

1. ·         To certify the level of individual student achievement in selected Grade 12 courses
2. ·         To ensure that province-wide standards of achievement are maintained
3. ·         To report individual and group results

To meet the objectives outlined above, Diploma exams go through an extensive design and testing process, beginning with an approved blueprint on the Program of Studies that corresponds to a desired level of difficulty. Teachers are directly involved in the item writing process and if you are interested in being involved let your Coordinator know. Once test questions are designed they are field tested, again with the help of teachers and their students. Many teachers use these field tests as a means of providing diploma-like test practice to their students, without the high-stakes pressure. Currently math and science field tests are only available in an online format. Criteria around field testing requirements and procedures can be found at this link:  Bulletin Alberta Education Field Testing. Results from the field tests are used to approve, fine-tune, or discard test questions for future diploma exams. As each diploma exam administration involves a unique combination of questions, they are designed to include a set number of “anchor” questions that are consistent from one administration to the next. This allows exams to be compared for difficulty level and results can be “equated” if necessary so as to maintain consistent standards over time.

For teachers teaching diploma level courses, the presenters identified the following resources to inform their practice:   Program of Studies,  Information Bulletins,  Standard Documents (Math 30-2,  Math 30-1, Biology 30,  Chemistry 30, Physics 30 and  Science 30 ),  Science Data Pages and Booklets , and Released Items from previous diploma exam administrations. Currently, with the more recent implementation of the Mathematics Program at grade 12 there are not any Released Items from Mathematics 30-1, but there is significant overlap between Mathematics 30-1 and the former Pure Math 30 objectives so as to provide a sample of questions. Alberta Education has released the January 2013 test for Mathematics 30-2 – see Released Math 30-2 Items, as the course objectives here are quite different from the Applied Math 30 course.

Within the vision of Inspiring Education, Alberta Education has made several changes with the intent to increase opportunities for students to write diploma exam and simplify the process of providing student accommodation. As part of the transformation surrounding increased availability and digital delivery, Alberta Education is working to administer multiple forms of diploma exams so as to more quickly increase their exam question banks. Along with the new delivery format, Alberta Education is increasing security and now only provides electronic versions of diploma exams for perusal. Specific information regarding these changes is found in this General Information Bulletin. 

Alberta Education has established Quest A+  in their move towards providing digital delivery of diploma exams.  This site is currently used by teachers to administer digital field tests and has the added value of providing statistical reports from each field test summarizing each question’s reporting category and student success rate.  Quest A+ also includes open unit and final tests in digital format, thus providing an opportunity for students to increase their experience and comfort with the format of diploma exam tests and the digital delivery process. 

Overall, even seasoned teachers found the session to be filled with a list of helpful reminders and resources as well as a summary of important updates regarding recent changes and future intents.