2.9 Curricular spider web
2.9.9 Assessing in GIS grade 11 CAPS
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formal assessments must be moderated to ensure quality and maintain standards, while informal assessments are a daily monitoring of learners’ progress (Department of Basic Education, 2011).
Summative assessment is in contrast to formative assessment in the way that it focuses on summarising the results of a student, and the results are produced at the end of term or year for certification purpose.
Assessment is discussed in three types namely, assessment for learning, assessment of learning and assessment as learning. According to Gtiggans (2002), assessment for learning is a process whereby the educator delivers information, involves learners in the assessment and the teacher keep the records for future usage. The advantages of assessment for learning are very wide, firstly, learners gain confident because they are responsible for themselves progressing, and as a result, they want to carry on and better their achievements. Learners get to understand that they are in charge of their learning.
Assessment for learning benefits the teachers because their learners become inspired to learn and the parents benefit when they see high achievement. Gtiggans (2002) suggest that the department should develop a professional program that will focus on teachers’ development in terms of the expertise needed to assess for learning. The following table indicate formal assessment for geography grade 11
Summary of formal assessment expected in grade 11 geography CAPS
Grade Formal Assessment CASS (25% Final Exam (75%) Total
11 3 assessment tasks
2 tests
Mid-year examination
3 x 20=60 2 x 10=20 1 x 20=20
100 400
End-of-year examination
Paper 1 = 225 (3 x75) Paper 2= 75
300 Table 2.5
Weighting of cognitive levels in grade 11 Grade Lower order
(Knowledge/ Remembering Middle order Understanding, Applying
High order
analysing, Evaluating, Creating
11 30% 50% 20%
Table 2.6 (Geography CAPS, 2011)
Programme of assessment for grade 11 CAPS
Term assessment Description of assessment Marks
1 1 Data-handing task 20
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2 Test 10
2 3 Mapwork task 20
4 Mid-year examination (Paper 1 & Paper 2) 20
3 5 Research/Essay writing task 20
6 Test 10
Year Mark 100
4 7 End-year examination (Paper and Paper 2) 300
Total assessment 400
Percentage 100%
Table 2.7 (Geography CAPS, 2011)
The promotion requirements in the FET according to CAPS:
Seven subjects
Learner must pass home language: 40%
Learner must pass 2 other subjects: 40%
Learner must pass 3 other subjects: 30%
No aggregate mark is used.
On top of what is presented by CAPS documents as the formal assessment, the Provincial Department of Education, on the 14 August 2015, issued circular no. 3 of 2015 which states the guidelines for promotion and progression for grade 10-12:
Use policy prescripts
Learner must be retained once in a phase not more than four years
If the learner does not meet the requirements for promotion, learner must be progressed to the next grade.
The purpose of circular no 3 is to align CAPS learner promotion with the requirements of NCS.
While the Department of Education provided school principals with the above stated guidelines for promoting and progressing learners, teachers who know and understand better what is happing in classroom are not consulted, because with or without learning in classrooms, learners will progress to the next grade. Reiterating that with the statement of the Department of Education that says “learner must be retained once in a phase not more than four years”; in the FET, a learner should spent three years not less than that; when they spend four year it suggest that learner should only fail once. In
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other words, teachers must understand the issues of the curricular spider web. Teachers must also be able to reflect on their day-to-day practice.
According to Stephen, Stiggins, Arter and Chappuis (2004), assessment of learning is where a teacher administers the test correctly to ensure accuracy of the results. The results are used to help students to meet the required standards. The teacher, as the assessor, sets the tests, and builds the assessment for grading and reports, along with interpreting the learner results for the parents. However, the possible problem around the assessment of learning is that the test set by the teacher may not cover the curriculum and it may cover only what was taught to learners. The role of students in this regard is to meet standards set by teacher and they strive to get better marks. The timing of this assessment is done at the end of the lesson to generate evidence of learning. With CAPS, assessment for learning becomes inappropriate since teachers are teaching based on the timeframe given to them. This means all schools, subject by subject, are teaching something at the same pace. According to the study conducted by Wiliam (2011), “What is assessment for learning”, assessment practices sometimes limit student learning.
Stephen, et al. (2004) define assessment as learning as where the teacher changes standards to fit the classroom; the target is set and learners will be informed in order for them to work toward achieving that target. With assessment as learning, the teacher is responsible to provide feedback to learners and also learners are part of the assessment process. As learners are involved in the assessment process they are able to improve their results. This kind of assessment is conducted throughout the lesson to influence the learning process. However, there are possible problems around assessment as learning;
teachers sometimes depend on learners when they lack skills, time, or aspiration to assess.
Assessment therefore leads to the issue of the content taught to learners. According to Phoenix (2000), there are different ways to assess GIS in the geography classroom. Conducting projects, implementing applications, using internet-based mapping and instructional modules are among the methods which are being used in classrooms today. Although geography teachers can teach GIS using one computer, almost all of the aspects stated their methods of teaching required individual students having access to their own computers. Also, classrooms cannot be regarded as a good and proper environment to teach GIS, instead geography laboratories at schools are suitable environment to conduct an effective geography lesson where GIS would be easily incorporated.
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