Significant changes in the new A level specifications

1. Significant changes in the new A level specifications Pat Wilson RGS-IBG Education Committee Chair RGS-IBG Sepag

2. Teaching Geography, Autumn 2007 ‘The devil is in the detail and all geography teachers would be well advised to study these specifications in detail before making their choices’

3. Stretch and Challenge! What does this mean? • Two units of assessment at AS worth 50% with maximum of 3 hours external examining time • Two units of assessment at A2 worth 50% with a maximum of 4 hours external examining time

4. How have the Awarding Bodies approached these criteria?

5. A and AS level specifications should require students to : • Carry out research, and out-of-classroom work including fieldwork, as appropriate to the topics selected • In addition for A2………require students to: • Undertake individual research/ investigative work including fieldwork Source: 2006 revision of GCE AS and A Level subject criteria

6. What ways were open to the Awarding Bodies to meet these criteria with no internally assessed coursework allowed in geography?

7. Controlled assessment ‘of the needs of thesubject’ which ‘may require preparative work’ This may constitute: • Reading pre-release materials to enable candidates to familiarise themselves with the context of the questions in the exam paper; • Carry out research and collecting data for use in the examination; • Carrying out a prescribed task e.g. involving fieldwork or an investigation in order that questions may be set on the activity and its outcomes in the examination’. QCA Guidance November 2006

8. ‘Traditional’ Schools focus ‘Forward-looking’ University focus Process / mechanistic TEACHER-LED Discovery approach ENQUIRY-BASED Increasing use of a wider range of ‘research’ (less clear boundaries between primary vs secondary or quantitative vs qualitative); also new technologies - GIS Quantitative Qualitative Clear boundaries identified between primary and secondary data types Conceptual Social & personal Skills Values Aesthetic Edexcel AS (20% of GCE) * Geographical Investigations 4 x Units: Extreme weather, Conflict at coast, Unequal spaces, Rebranding places. Choose 1x phys, 1x hum AQA – AS (15% of GCE) Applied Geography Fieldwork chosen from: Core physical: rivers, floods and management. Core human: global population change AS WJEC AS Fieldwork integrated into G1 and G2 – physical and human 30% of marks (as indicated by specimen) (15% of GCE) *There are fieldwork opportunities at A2, e.g. glaciation, tourism, but these are not explicitly assessed (will carry credit) A2 OCR – A2 (20% of GCE) Section A related to own investigation (2x components), section B stimulus material – answer one q, either phys or human AQA – A2 (20% of GCE) Fieldwork Investigation Candidates’ understanding of OWN fieldwork assessed through route to enquiry WJEC – G3 (section B) Focus on research skills, both primary and secondary required for most themes (10% of GCE) Assessment tends towards a deeper understanding of entire research procedure through reflection of process and reliability of outcomes Assessment tends towards an understanding of route to enquiry and statistical / analytical competency

9. QCA Guidance stated: ‘All A2 units ….., must contain some synoptic assessment’ AS & A Level 2006 Geography criteria said: In Geography candidates are expected to have an ‘ability to draw on their understanding of the connections between different aspects of the subject…. AND to think like a geographer’.

10. QCA Guidance states:- • The assessment of Quality of Written Communication (QWC) means that within each question the marking criteria will refer ‘explicitly to QWC’.

11. There are 3 strands: • ‘grammar, spelling ,punctuation and legibility’ • ‘The appropriateness of form and style ….likely to be extended writing’ • ‘Organising information clearly and coherently……..but the use of specialist vocabulary may be assessed through any style of assessment’

13. Some questions if you are happy with an AB’s content:- • Question papers • Are they fit for purpose? – do they stretch and challenge too little/too much for your candidates especially on no choice questions and synoptic assessment? • Controlled Assessment of Fieldwork • Is the AB’s approach effective for assessing current fieldwork practice? What changes, if any, will have to be made? • Mark Schemes • What is the AB’s approach to QWC overall and in individual questions?

14. We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganising, and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress, while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralisation. Petronius 66AD