External and internal assessment in the final examination in secondary schools in Slovenia

Abstract

This article examines the introduction of the final examination as an external national system of assessment of students in the transition from secondary school to university education. Since 1991 Slovenia has followed foreign models, the British one in particular; however, it has also considered its own traditional system of education. Students take the final examination (the matura) in three compulsory and two elective subjects; of which sociology can be one. A case study considering this subject demonstrates how external assessment can be fine tuned using internally supervised and assessed project work, in which seminar essays are produced. This article conducts a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the essays and structured questions forming the written examination; the same procedure is applied in the case of seminar essays. Also included are the opinions and experiences of students regarding their preparations for the final examination and their work in the seminars; the students’ feedback is decidedly positive. So far, the external and the internal results have shown little correlation, a fact that points to certain problems in the final examination assessment system. The positive results in sociology, considered in this contribution, suggest that it would be worthwhile applying similar assessment strategies in other subjects. It is, however, impossible to provide a straightforward answer to the question of a positive impact of the final examination on the desired improvement in the quality of the education process.

Notes

1. Statistical analyses distinguish between university studies, the prerequisite for which is a successfully completed general matura, and the so called high and higher tertiary education.

2. The abolition of all forms of final examination in the former Yugoslavia resulted from the reform known as the oriented education, which Slovenia, as the last among the Yugoslavian federal units, implemented between 1981 and 1985.

3. Analyses of the matura, published by the State Examination Centre, are available for all years from 1995 to 2005.

4. The Guidelines for the Production of the Matura Essay (Pravila za izdelavo maturitetne seminarske naloge).

5. The interviews with the teachers (Tavčar Krajnc, 1999, pp. 148–156) show that the supervisors experience the results of their students as an important proof of the quality of their work. Other sources indicate that this seems to be consistent with the way the school managers usually interpret the results of the matura.