I report on an analysis of the alignment between the South African Grade 12 Physical Sciences core curriculum content and the exemplar papers of 2008, and the final examination papers of 2008 and 2009. A two-dimensional table was
used for both the curriculum and the examination in order to calculate the Porter alignment index, which indicates the degree of match between the two. Alignment indices of 0.8 and 0.6 for Physics and Chemistry, respectively, were
computed and remained constant for Physics, but fluctuated initially for Chemistry before levelling off. Using the revised Bloom’s taxonomy, discrepancies were found in terms of cognitive levels as well as content areas in both Physics and
Chemistry. The cognitive level Remember is under-represented in the Chemistry and Physics examinations, whereas the cognitive levels Understand and Apply
were over-represented in Chemistry. It is argued that the shift to higher cognitive levels is in line with the reported increase in cognitive complexity of the Physical
Sciences curriculum. The significance of the study for Physical Science teachers is highlighted, and the potential for further research is also indicated.

https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v30n4a389