Page 44 - 2019 CXC Annual Report

CARIBBEAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2019

World Class Exams – Syllabus Development

Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE )
®

The Review committee recommended that the Panel Consequently, for unit 1 Module 1 for example, Specific Objective
considered the revision of the Rationale and Aim and General 5 was further delineated to create 4 Specific Objectives to more
Objectives to ensure they were reflecting the relevant Twenty- effectively delimit the scope of the Content. These changes
first Century skills, attributes of the Ideal Caribbean Person, the also resulted in a reordering in the sequence of the Specific
UNESCO Pillars of Learning and other areas for consideration Objectives in the Module. Consequently, Specific Objective 6
based on the political, philosophical and psychological and 7 are now 9 and 10 respectively. Specific Objectives in Unit
considerations for syllabus development. 2, Module 1 were also reorganized for more effective sequencing
of the Content. For example, Specific Objectives 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 4
The Rationale was adjusted to include the recommended and 5 in the existing syllabus are now Specific Objectives 4, 5, 6,
approach to teaching the syllabus as well as relevant 7, 8, 9 and 10 respectively in the proposed syllabus. Additionally,
characteristics of the Ideal Caribbean person in paragraph the IFRS Standard was updated from 2009 to 2015 and the IAS
5- Through the use of a learner-centered teaching and Standards was removed new and content added to adequately
assessment approaches, students are offered the opportunity delineate the scope of the content.
to acquire a variety of experiences in the fundamentals of
Accounting... Such a person will value team work, demonstrate They recommended the revision of Suggested Teaching and
independent and critical thinking and a strong appreciation of Learning Activities in each Module of the syllabus to provide
moral issues including responsibility for and accountability to high levels of authentic engagement of the learners and to focus
self and community on helping them to develop critical Twenty-first Century skills
while catering to their divergent needs. They also suggested
The General Objective “develop an appreciation for the impact the revision of and updating of, the list of print and electronic
of ethics and moral values on financial reporting” was also resources to ensure relevance and currency which were
added to Unit 1 (General Objective 4) to effectively support the accepted and adjustments made.
existing Content, and related activities which focus on morals
and ethics. Additionally, the Review Committee recommended the review
of the requirements of the School-Based Assessment (SBA)
The clarification and elaboration of the Specific Objectives and and the associated assessment instruments as well as the
content of the syllabus was done to more effectively delineate revision of the Paper 032, the Alternative to the SBA, to ensure
the scope for the knowledge and skills to be covered in each greater alignment to the skills assessed in the Paper 031 and to
Module and to ensure they can be clearly operationalised in the reduce the number of items from 9 to 6 for Unit 2, Paper 032,
examination development process. This was also prioritised in response to the policy requirements. They also suggested
to ensure adequate demand of the Modules for both Units revising the instructions and mark scheme, especially as it
and the inclusion of more current and relevant content areas, relates to the requirements of the SBA and the Alternative to the
to include emerging trends, ethical and moral considerations SBA, so as to provide greater clarity and guidance to candidates
among others; while delimiting the content to ensure teachers and teachers and the external assessment tasks to ensure that
are sufficiently guided was also recommended. the items are at the appropriate level of demand, clearly aligned
to the Specific Objectives, and to ensure that the items on Paper
2 encourage greater application of Twenty-first Century skills.

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