IELTS Research Reports

Construct validity in the IELTS Academic Reading testPHYSICS: In physics [like other disciplines], there are particular conceptual challenges thatstudents have, in part related to the fact that we do use some words which have a very precisemeaning in physics that is different from how they are used in normal everyday usage.This lecturer went on to explain that often the study questions she set were intended to draw out thesedistinctive meanings. Examples she gave were the terms ‘heat’ and ‘temperature’PHYSICS: If we actually unpack a word like ‘heat’ and use it in the precise way it isintended then we are actually thinking about some energy being transferred from one objectto another because their temperatures are different. That’s not normally how one would usethe word, and there are lots of words like that. So words like ‘heat’, ‘temperature’ have reallyprecise meanings and we try to bring this out in the questions we set for students.Samples A3-6 show questions from a variety of disciplines, all which have this focus on facilitatingstudents’ understanding of specific discipline–based concepts. It was noted, interestingly, that in theformat of many such questions, the relevant concept with which students need to engage is oftensignaled through the use of inverted commas or italics.Read Section X of the textbook on thermal energy:Which has the greater amount of thermal energy, an iceberg or a cup of coffee? If the coffeeand the iceberg were placed in contact, what would happen? Use this context to explain clearlythe terms temperature, heating and thermal energy.Sample A3. Weekly exercise question - PhysicsWhat is ‘currency risk’? Why does international business inevitably involve this type of risk?How can firms reduce these risks?Sample A4. Weekly exercise question - ManagementWhat is the difference between the ‘Lossy’ and ‘Lossless’ types of media compression?Sample A5. Weekly exercise question - Computer ScienceExplain what a ‘speech act’ is, and give several examples.Sample A6. Weekly exercise question - LinguisticsExam and test questionsExams and tests were set in almost all of the subjects investigated, the only exception beingCommunications. The reading requirements for exams, as explained by a number of informants,mainly involved reviewing the content of lecture and textbook material:IELTS Research Reports Volume 11231