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Assessment of Practical work at GCSE

Assessment of Practical work at GCSE. AQA in action. Millar – York 21 st Century Science Gateway Practical data analysis Case study/science in the news Investigation. Gott – Durham AQA Edexcel Practical skills assessment Exam –board set tasks Investigation (Edexcel). Background.

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Assessment of Practical work at GCSE

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  1. Assessment of Practical work at GCSE AQA in action

  2. Millar – York 21st Century Science Gateway Practical data analysis Case study/science in the news Investigation Gott – Durham AQA Edexcel Practical skills assessment Exam –board set tasks Investigation (Edexcel) Background

  3. What do we want to assess? - procedural understanding - practical skills How can we keep it simple/fair/reliable? - tasks set by the exam board - short tasks that support teaching and learning in science Rationale

  4. Procedural Understanding • The ‘thinking behind the doing’ What question am I asking and how can I answer it? What do I need to measure? How precise do I need to be? How many measurements do I need to make? How can I ensure they are reliable and accurate? Is the equipment precise enough? What is the most valid way to analyse the data? What conclusions can I draw? Are they valid? Are they reliable? How sure am?

  5. Investigative Skills Assignment (ISA) • Assesses AO3 and some of AO2 (QCA, 2005) • Experiment done in class • Written test set by the exam-board – 45 mins • Section A based on their experiment • Section B based on a related experiment. Alternative data is presented.

  6. ISA • Marked out of 34 • One ISA submitted – do more than one and take the best result • Dual Award – use one from Physics, Chemistry or Biology • Done as part of normal teaching • Progressive

  7. Example ISAs • Effect of acid rain on seed germination and growth • Effort of human activity on distribution of organisms • Testing the viscosity of different oils • Finding the degree of unsaturation in food oils • Investigating the rate of loss of heat from various containers • Investigating the effect of surface area on the pd from solar cells.

  8. Example ISAs • Rate of photosynthesis and light intensity • Investigating the best conditions for a compost heap. • Effect of temperature on enzyme activity • Factors affecting the rate of reaction • Displacement reactions – investigating the effect of the mass or concentration on the temperature rise. • Measuring the terminal velocity of different parachutes • Investigating changes in resistance

  9. Practical Skills Assessment(PSA) • Mark out of 6 • Based on ability to carry out simple procedures accurately and safely.

  10. Moderation • Cascade system • Internal system varies according to school • Each mark the work of their students • Heads of department mark samples from each teacher • Head of Science marks samples from each department

  11. Progress? • Definitely simpler to administer • Good discriminator and therefore fairer • Good use of time as the preparation for the ISAs is relevant to the exam. • Driving HSW in the curriculum • Implications for teachers’ subject knowledge

  12. Issues for the future • Opportunities for formative feedback are missed • Security • Inclusion – levels of reading required? • What will the long term effects be? Will it promote thinking or will students learn the answers?

  13. References • Roberts, R. and Gott, R. (2006) The role of evidence in the new KS4 National Curriculum for England and the AQA Specifications SSR, 87 (321) p29-39 • QCA (2005) Criteria for Science Downloaded on 11/11/09 http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/files/11881_gcse_science_criteria_apr05.pdf

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