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AS Government and Politics -STUDY SKILLS

AS Government and Politics -STUDY SKILLS. HOW TO ANSWER Exam Questions. AS Government and Politics: Unit 1 People and Politics Exam. Unit 1 People and Politics Assessed on 4 topics Democracy and Political participation Pressure Groups Elections and Electoral Reform Political Parties

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AS Government and Politics -STUDY SKILLS

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  1. AS Government and Politics -STUDY SKILLS HOW TO ANSWER Exam Questions

  2. AS Government and Politics: Unit 1 People and Politics Exam • Unit 1 People and Politics Assessed on 4 topics • Democracy and Political participation • Pressure Groups • Elections and Electoral Reform • Political Parties EXAM DATE: 20th May 2014

  3. EXAM LAYOUT • Exam will be 1hour and 20 minutes • THERE WILL BE 4 QUESTIONS ON THE EXAM PAPER • One on each topic (Democracy/Participation, Elections, Pressure Groups and Political Parties) • Each Question will have 3 parts • 5 marks • 10 marks • 25 marks • YOU MUST ANSWER ANY 2 of the 4 Questions • Each question is worth 40 marks so the paper is out of 80 marks

  4. EDEXCEL • The 5-mark questions will require students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. • The 10-mark questions will require students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding, as well as analyse and evaluate political information, arguments and explanations. • The 25-mark questions will require students to demonstrate knowledge and understanding, analyse and evaluate political informationand construct and communicate coherent arguments. • You can work on the premise of a minute a mark!

  5. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA AO1 Knowledge and Understanding • This is basically factual knowledge and understanding of key ideas, concepts, meanings, distinctions and processes. It also refers to your knowledge and use of appropriate examples to back up and illustrate your answers. In short, it is what you know. 50% of the total assessment is for AO1.

  6. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA AO2 Analysis and evaluation • This is what students often find tough, although the good news is that AO2 only accounts for 30 % of the total marks. • This refers to your ability to show you can analyse a question, can evaluate certain ideas, distinguishing between what is important and what is less important. It mainly applies to questions which ask you ‘to what extent’ or ‘why’ or explain the difference’ etc. • It also gives marks for making connections between different parts of the political system. One way of looking at AO2 is that it contains marks for how well you have actually answered the question, however much factual knowledge you may or may not have.

  7. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA AO3 Communication • In short, this is how well you write. There is little you can do about your standard of literacy by the time you come to revision, but you can make sure that you are aware of the appropriate language and vocabulary to use in a particular answer. AO3 is for the accuracy of your writing, how well you go about answering the question, and, equally importantly, how well constructed. • There is a total of 20% of marks available for AO3. Note that there are no marks reserved for the use of particular words or phrases. We are not playing politics bingo. If a relevant point is made, with a supporting example, clearly supported with an explanation of its relevance to the question, then full AO3 is up for grabs. It is vital that you familiarise yourself with the assessment objectives, not least because the examiners who mark your work will give separate marks for each of those assessment objectives.

  8. (a) The 5 mark question • Simple explanation of a key term • Demonstrate you knowledge and understanding • No need for introduction and conclusion • Should only take you 5 minutes

  9. THE (5 MARK) QUESTION • Question will usually as you one of the following DEFINE ‘Define Direct Democracy’ OUTLINE ‘Outline two functions of an election’ EXPLAIN ‘Explain what is meant by ‘accountability’ DISTINGUISH ‘Distinguish between a promotional and a sectional pressure group’

  10. Define representative democracy. Representative democracy is a system in which citizens do not make every political decision for themselves but instead elect others to do so on their behalf (1). ……………… .……Representative democracy must be based on democratic elections which are free, fair, regular, competitive and based on universal suffrage (2)……… ……………Representative democracy is more practical in modern society in which citizens do not have time for direct democracy and it ensures representatives are accountable to the people as they can be removed as easily as they are elected (3). …….. However, it can be seen as rule by professional politicians who often do not truly represent their constituents in terms of their socio-economic background, for example, and can be seen as elitist ……………(4). ……The UK is considered to be a representative democracy as the public elect MP’s to represent them (5). • 5 points made = 5 marks

  11. OVER TO YOU! • Using your study skills booklet • Answer the first (a) 5 mark question ‘DEFINE DIRECT DEMOCRAY’ (5 Marks) -Sentence 1- give simple definition -Sentence 2/3- Where did it originate/features -Sentence 4/5 Give an example of where/how it is used today

  12. 10 Mark Questions • The marks for assessment objectives are these: • 7 marks for assessment objective 1 – knowledge and understanding • 3 marks for assessment objective 2 – analysis and evaluation • 0 marks for assessment objective 3 – communication • This is obviously similar to the mark scheme for part (a) questions, but there are some (three) marks • available for the way you have answered the specific question. In practice this will mean how well you have explained something, shown understanding of why something happens, been able to draw important distinctions and make comparisons and, sometimes, evaluated how important an institution or a process is. • .There are no marks for communication so there is no need for a highly structured answer. Again, however, clarity will help you score marks for assessment objectives 1 and 2

  13. 25 Mark Questions • Section (c) – 25 marks • As we have said above, this is the key part with the most marks. All three assessment objectives are • tested, as follows: • 8 marks for assessment objective 1 – knowledge and understanding • 9 marks for assessment objective 2 – analysis and evaluation • 8 marks for assessment objective 3 – communication • Here you are expected to undertake discussion, analysis and, possibly, evaluation. You are expected • to back up your conclusions with appropriate evidence, examples and illustrations, and you should • attempt a well-developed answer with a logical structure and a clear answer to the question. This will • be illustrated in the revision notes to follow.

  14. 25 Mark Questions • There are 25 minutes and about 600 words to be used. This adds up to a ‘mini essay’. It should have a good structure, should address the question clearly, use evidence to support conclusions and use appropriate examples as illustrations. • Marks for the three assessment objectives are almost equally distributed and examiners will award three separate marks which will add up to the total out of 25.

  15. Looking at ‘Command Words’ • Complete the worksheet

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