Unit 4a in January

[Chris Smitheram]

Is anyone else enterting their students for this paper in January? I have a lot of questions about it and am starting the prep after half term but in a bit of a quagmire?

[Helen Nurton]

Yeh - we are going to do this - on my suggestion, but I haven't even given it a thought!

[Claire Pinder]

We are entering them. They are currently writing up their own studies which they began in the summer term. We will then do specific exam prep in January before the exam.

[John Barlow]

Yes - we are entering students for this exam in January.
Students will be writing up their own investigations over the next half term and we have dedicated 3 lessons per fortnight to support with this.

I have just purchased the following book to support with the additional skills that pupils are required to know for A2. Will also be useful for AS. Worth getting as written by Darren Christian, Chief Examiner for Unit 2 at AS.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-Geographical-Skills-Darren-Christ...

[Mark OLLIS]

Thoroughly recommended - read cover to cover over the summer hols and its not very often I say that about a textbook!

[Sandra Wickens]

We are entering 4A in January and have just completed coursework and a mock based on the specimen. Results were very poor because the students had real problems interpreting the questions, despite knowing their coursework well. Any pointers would be very welcome. (I have immediately ordered the book above, so thanks for that!)

[Kate Jonas]

My response would mirror Sandra's. Students seem to lack the ability to be anayltical of their own results and refer to theories. We are getting our group to retake their test papers.

[Terry Portch]

I keep trying to upload some documents, but it won't let me!

I created a proposal sheet for the students to carry out their own investigations, and a task sheet for the write up. I decided against a simple "Write up your investigation as a piece of coursework" approach, and instead decided to get the students to carry out the work with the exam in mind. We will be entering them for the January exam, and they had the summer to carry out thier fieldwork, and since September have had one lesson per week to work through the task sheet with my support. Before the summer, we did do a series of lessons looking at skills.

If anyone would like a copy of what I created, then feel free to email me - [e-mail]

Terry

[Chris Smitheram]

It's good to hear about what you are all doing. I have put aisde about ten lessons worth of prep and they are going well. I'm enjoying this actually. If they bomb this exam, we will give th eoption of retkaing it in the summer or maybe trying for the 4b paper (apparently you can do both)

[Anne Logie]

This document might be useful for preparation and possible questions,

[Victoria Ellis]

Thanks Anne - the questions there will be really useful.

We are doing 4a in January, but - although I can understand it to a degree - I've been really frustrated with the students' attitudes to writing up their fieldwork. We started on the specimen questions yesterday, and I think that gave them the wake-up call they needed. Think next year we will do the EPQ though, so that they have more of an incentive to produce a decent fieldwork report.

[Mark OLLIS]

Victoria, are your specimens in an electronic version and easily up loadable? If so please could you add some. I am amongst reports and exams start Monday so it is the last thing to do. I also have got in something of a tiz. I set one double per week - we started after the exams with a woodland visit. They wrote up an introduction, method, sampling, explored secondary data and then each took a species to explore identifying adaptations and ecological niches [poorly]. Then of course some left and others changed courses.

This term so far they have presented the data and are nalysing it this week, so I am struggling to get it finished. I have only used in class time so may have to now use the preps. I am away Tuesday [Population comparison] so will set this but we shall see. I will tidy up the files and add then eventually but if anyone wants to see them in the the meantime I can direct you towards their Ning [I would rather do this on an Ad hoc basis rather than post for all].

Presenting the data was difficult but they did a good job eventually

[Mark OLLIS]

Other Hyporthesis I haven't included any statistical analysis though - still not prepared anything for Mann Whit or Synoptic maps - will link to TDF... Aargh, Christmas gallops closer