Mckenzie Quotient

The Mckenzie Quotient or MQ is a technique developed by Secondary Education scientist David Mckenzie for rating the value of a particular standard on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQA). The quotient communicates the value of attempting the standard in terms of it's "effort per credit", with effort usually measured in the number of pages taken up by the notes in the relevant study guide.
Explanation
For example, a standard on the framework with a credit rating of 6 may cover 32 pages in the relevant textbook.
the Mckenzie Quotient for the standard is therefore:

32/6 = 5.34

The accepted standard is to express the MQ of a standard to 3 significant figures.
Applications
The Quotient system is a useful way to prioritize standards, particularly when time is of the essence. For example another standard with an MQ of 7.20 could be judged as requiring more effort per credit than the previously mentioned standard of MQ = 5.34, and so a student who only had enough time to attemp one paper could use this technique to decide which one to attempt.

The MQ technique can also be generalised to apply a quantitative effort/reward measure of any sitaution which fits a similar model. For example, an MQ rating could be given to several different types of beer; by comparing the MQ of each beer an individual would be able to decide which was more worth the effort of driving to the supermarket, paying for etc.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu