Making accounting examiners' tacit knowledge more explicit: developing grade descriptors for an Accounting A-level

Abstract

At award meetings for public examinations in the UK examiners make decisions about which examination scripts exhibit the competence which is expected at grades A, B and E for A-level. One of the indicators used to distinguish between competence at different grades is grade descriptors. These are written descriptions of examiners' personal constructs of each grade, which are tacit knowledge. It is important that candidates and teachers are aware of the characteristics which are expected to be exhibited at these grades. To develop grade descriptors for an Accounting A-level (i.e. to make Accounting examiners’ tacit knowledge explicit) quantitative data were taken from samples of approximately 40 candidates chosen randomly from subsets of the Accounting examination population who had chosen each question and achieved each grade. Quantitative analysis was used to identify questions where there was a clear difference between the performance of candidates who achieved adjacent grades. Using Kelly's Repertory Grid, Accounting experts identified the qualitative differences in the responses made to these questions by candidates achieving different grades. These qualitative data were edited to form grade descriptors. The Accounting examiners‘ tacit knowledge was made explicit as grade descriptors. Examiners’ tacit knowledge which they use to make judgements about the grade worthiness of scripts constitutes characteristics which distinguish work at different grades.

Keywords:

• Examiners
• Tacit Knowledge
• Public Examinations
• Grade Descriptors
• A-LEVEL
• Examination Performance