A Study On The Alignment Between The New College Entrance Examination Of Mathematics And The Curriculum Standards

In recent years,new policies have been introduced to revise teaching materials,classroom teaching and examination evaluation based on curriculum standards.As the curriculum standards is an important basis for the selection of talents in China,test questions should be designed in a way that is aligned with the curriculum standards and ensures its own scientific and rational nature.The study focuses on the evaluation of the test questions of the new college entrance examination of mathematics,and examines the alignment of the test questions with General Senior High School Mathematics Curriculum Standards(2017 edition)(hereinafter referred to as "Curriculum Standards"),with a view to providing countermeasures for the more scientific design of the test questions and the high-quality development of education.To date,29 provinces and municipalities have implemented the new college entrance examination policy,and the new college entrance examination mathematics paper has undergone major changes in terms of the structure and intention of the questions.Accordingly,the study starts from the four content themes of the curriculum standards and the four cognitive levels of deeper learning,constructs a alignment analysis framework,applies the SEC alignment analysis model to explore the alignment between the two,analyses the appropriateness of the new college entrance examination of mathematics assessment mechanism based on the curriculum standards,and constructs a core competence assessment framework to analyse the testing of core competence in the test questions.The following conclusions were drawn from the study:(1)The 15 sets of the new college entrance examination of mathematics questions performed well in terms of their level of consistency with the curriculum standards,but only six papers had statistically significant consistency.Based on the analysis of the data,it could be found that the national papers had a higher degree of alignment than the local papers.The reason for this is that the college entrance examination is a selective examination and its level of testing is higher than the basic requirements of the curriculum standards,thus resulting in a low level of alignment between the questions and the curriculum standards,while the national paper needs to take into account the learning levels of students in each province and has a higher level of alignment compared to the local paper.(2)The distribution of the 15 sets of the new college entrance examination of mathematics questions across the four content themes is consistent with the curriculum standards.While the curriculum standards provide a more balanced balance of the four topics,the 15 sets of the new college entrance examination of mathematics papers tested the Functions topic and the Geometry and Algebra topic much more than the requirements of the curriculum standards,while the Preliminary Knowledge topic and the Statistics and Probability topic were not tested sufficiently,this also reflects the selective function of the college entrance examination questions.(3)There were differences in the distribution of the 15 sets of the new college entrance examination of mathematics questions in relation to the curriculum standards at the four cognitive levels.With the four cognitive levels being tested in the following order: induction,generalization,coordination and awareness,while the requirements of the four cognitive levels in the curriculum standards were in the following order:induction,coordination,awareness and generalization.Thus reflecting the fact that the cognitive levels tested in the new college entrance examination of mathematics are higher than those required in the curriculum standards.(4)The 15 sets of the new college entrance examination questions basically covered the six core competencies of mathematics.In terms of the core competence tests,the tests were extremely uneven,with the combined weight of mathematical operations and logical reasoning being as high as 67.93%,while the combined weight of mathematical modelling and data analysis was only 4.06%.In terms of the level of core literacy assessment,the test questions gave the highest weight to knowledge transfer(Level 2),which is in line with the requirements of the academic quality standards in the curriculum for the design of questions in the college entrance examination.The new college entrance examination questions are innovative in their format,but the extent to which the core competencies of mathematics are reflected is not comprehensive and rich.Based on the above research,four recommendations are made:(1)Balance the content themes and innovate the examination format.The new college entrance examination questions should appropriately increase the examination of preparatory knowledge and the topics of statistics and probability,as well as pay attention to the distribution of cognitive levels within each topic,highlight the examination of core competencies such as knowledge acquisition and practical exploration in the assessment system of new college entrance examination,and not be confined to the current examination format.(2)Emphasis on cognitive processes and scientific regulation of difficulty.The design of the new college entrance examination questions should implement the principle of "low starting point,multiple levels,high drop-off",design test questions suitable for different levels of students according to the cognitive requirements of knowledge points in accordance with the curriculum standards,ensure the basic nature of the test questions while increasing the degree of differentiation of the test questions,through the control of the level of thinking of the test questions,to achieve attention to different levels of students.(3)Pointing to core competence and deepening the reform of the college entrance examination.The new college entrance examination questions should be designed on the basis of a full understanding of the requirements of the curriculum standards,with an appropriate increase in the weighting of tests on the level of knowledge and innovation,a reduction in the testing of rote knowledge,and the promotion of educational development through assessment,with the aim of measuring the core competence of mathematics subjects and giving full play to the guiding role of the college entrance examination.(4)Carry out effective teaching and achieve alignment in teaching and assessment.Teachers should correctly understand the relationship between teaching and assessment,implement the teaching objectives in the curriculum standards,and carry out reasonable teaching activities according to the cognitive process of the deeper learning,taking into account both the developmental goals of all students and the selection requirements of the college entrance examination.