advanced higher geography
DESCRIPTION
Advanced Higher Geography. Erica M Caldwell Senior Examiner SQA November 2011 version. The Folio. The Geographical Study. THE GEOGRAPHICAL STUDY. Maximum length 25 sides of A4 paper or their equivalent. Larger sheets e.g. A3, may be folded to A4 size. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Advanced Higher Geography
Erica M CaldwellSenior Examiner SQANovember 2011 version
The Folio
The Geographical Study
THE GEOGRAPHICAL STUDY
Maximum length 25 sides of A4 paper or their equivalent.
Larger sheets e.g. A3, may be folded to A4 size.
A3 sheets count as two A4 sides so should be numbered accordingly.
All overlays, whole or part of sheets, count as separate or extra sheets/pages.
Font should be 12 except in diagrams.
The penalty of 10% of the marks will be deducted once the stated page limit has been exceeded i.e. 8 marks for the study.
The cover, title page, contents page, maps, diagrams, tables and appendices
(if you must have them) ALL count as pages.
So page 1 must be the cover.
The bibliography is the only exception to the page count… but it if it is in excess of the 25
pages it must only be bibliography and have no other materials on it.
How to improve candidate performance in the Study
Study must have purpose Proper Geographical
introduction Good quality location
maps Clearly marked sample
areas Don’t waste too much
time, space on detailed, simple methodologies
Marks come from the data collected and what is done with it
Use approp’te size graphs
Text to go with graphs or stats should develop and look for reasons and relationships and should not merely describe what the graph shows!
If results don’t work well use secondary data to help back up or explain
Time for proper present’n …pages from field note books…bad news!
Using field centres with groups - purpose and issues
Is this a way of introducing field work techniques or is this the ONLY experience candidates have?
Are all your candidates using the same data? How do you assess one hard working
candidate v group work? Studies need depth…take river studies… Physical are often done better than human but… Add in land use transect? Some settlement or
transport? Secondary data e.g. from BGS, SEPA, SNH,
census
Some other points…
Using Street View to do an urban transect…what are the issues?
Have the stats tests been checked for ‘correctness’, ‘appropriateness’, within range of possible answers?
Quality of, and use of photos… Quality of printer?
Choice of topic for the StudyThis is really important
difficulty and challenge of the chosen topic its viability of realistically being able to collect the amount
of necessary data for a high quality AH study credit demanding topics take care with shared data and field centre work when marking be aware of your own experience
and expectations
Marking the Study
Total marks 80
Four x 20 marks
Presentation
Data and Content
Techniques
Relationships
The Marking Instructions
Use the introductory statements and the key word descriptors
The grids may help to differentiate Don’t feel you have to make use of every part
of the descriptor…guidance on the standard Use key words to provide the range in those
with several marks e.g. 14 - 12… The intro e.g. for 9 marks has some very
helpful words for use in comments…
Presentation
Written text - quality, accuracy, attention to detail (checking the Spell Checker…is it US?)
Maps, diagrams, graphs: range/types: are they a suitable size for their relevance
Scale, key, acknowledgements are clear: examiners shouldn't need to “find” information
Properly laid out bibliography Overall finish; design, layout
but…not just pretty or funky publishing…
Data and Content Quality of data collected; is it well beyond
Standard Grade?? Are there both primary and secondary sources of
data? Quantity; is there enough to make this an AH
study? Appropriateness; is the data collected related to
specific aims or research questions? Data…sound and suitable? Effort; is there evidence of serious work being
done? e.g. revisiting sites for comparison.
Techniques
Range and variety; the GMT section means there should be plenty of analytical and graphical techniques; good candidates search out more
Effectiveness; are they suitable for the data or results being presented?
Do they effectively bring out relationships for commentary in the text?
Are they understood? Using difficult techniques is fine so long as they are correct and the results understood
Focus; do they relate directly to the study questions????
What were the research or study questions?
Relationships
Need to be sought out at all stages from development of study questions onwards
Their quality related to research questions Explanation or analysis of relationships and
conclusion; lucid, mature…not merely a repetition of results
Appreciation of complexity of relationships Theoretical background to analysis; flair in
use of theory and background reading
It is often very obvious that more work could and should have been done but the
candidate hasn’t done it.
If the weather is a problem, secondary data can help lift a study out of the mundane.
Constant excuses are very negative for the examiner!
Revisiting sites is an excellent way of deriving relationships!
Urban Studies: many are very simple, hardly beyond Standard Grade…use secondary sources and background theory
Interesting material is often stuck in an appendix when it would have had far more impact as an integrated part of the whole
“Them”…these awful markers??? Remember markers see the finished product… cannot give credit for potential cannot reward effort unless it is obvious and contributes to a
very well written piece of work shouldn’t have to look for key, scale, page numbers, try to
work out abbreviations &c Candidates must not assume that markers know their area.
They need to introduce it and provide proper maps. S6 pupils need to learn to meet your deadlines and allow the
time you agree with them for the final writing up, drawing diagrams &c so that they don’t end up in a rush stuffing in bits of their fieldwork notebooks! ***************
The Folio
The Geographical Issues Essay
The Rules of the Game: Essay
Maximum length of 12 sides of A4 paper or their equivalent. Larger sheets can be folded to A4 size.
An A3 sheet will count as two A4 sides and that each overlay, whether a whole or part sheets, will each count as a sheet in its own right.
For the Geographical Issues essay, a flat penalty of 10% of the marks available for the piece of work in question will be deducted once the stated page limit has been exceeded i.e. 6 marks for the essay.
The page limits apply to ALL PAGES THAT ARE SUBMITTED, regardless of their content, and will therefore include any covers, title pages, contents page, maps, diagram, tables and appendices.
The Penalty
The only exception to the rule on page limits applies to the bibliography which is excluded from the page count for the Geographical Issues Essay.
Word Count
Although the word count has been removed, there is no
intention that the essay should
be much longer than about 2,000 words
The font size should be 12 for the main body of the work.
Print for diagrams and footnotes will
obviously be smaller size
The Exception
How good candidates can do less well than they should
Write overlong essays This often shows little or no selection of materials Or…summarise so much that the final product is
bland Fail to look for suitable, relevant illustrations Waste time “overproducing” i.e. using fancy
publishing styles which make it difficult to read Many essays of 5-6,000 words do worse than
those which remain within the “spirit” of the “old” prescriptive word count: candidates literally talk themselves out of better marks!
Choice of topic Although topic choice is not separately marked, it
is vital to choose a topic with enough “meat” and controversy to allow a quality essay to be written.
Contextualisation: can only come through if candidates have done a lot of background reading and this is made obvious in the final essay. They need to use their background reading to prove/ disprove/ challenge/ corroborate/ back up the viewpoints or sources they are discussing.
This is where real quality critical evaluation of the sources or viewpoints comes from, not from rants about words or phrases being biased!
“Good” viewpoints or sources Who are the people whose viewpoints are
chosen? Name, position &c Are the people credible? A properly organised
group of protesters with access to good statistics will have more weight than one eccentric protestor! A well respected academic…
Value of newspapers? Quality? Credibility of reporter, his/her sources? Have the “right”* people been questioned?
What do *their own websites say? Have they published any quality articles or research papers?
Why are they qualified to pontificate? …cont’d
…continued
Who else agrees (or disagrees) with them? {contextualisation}
Is there real research or reliable statistics to back up the viewpoint? {contexualisation}
Enough controversy to make it interesting? Range of sources i.e. not all from a local weekly
newspapers Take care with relying too much even on
“quality” newspapers…the articles are already summarised; 3 newpaper articles don’t make for substantial sources
Look for academic papers, journals, books
Marking the Essay - 60 marks
15 marks for each of the headings
Presentation Research, content and relevance Structure and logical development Critical evaluation
Presentation Text is very well written; quality/high
standard of grammar; well finished;shows attention to detail
Graphics/illustrations; appropriate use; relevant and referred to in text; acknowledged; enhance the essay
Bibliography is extensive; effective background reading; shows contextualisation
Abbreviations are explained!!
Research, content and relevance
Standard of research reflected in quality of materials consulted; intellectual substance
Choice of content; appropriateness; range of viewpoints; contextualisation
Relevance; clear understanding of the topic; provide a distinctive perspective
Structure and logical development
Proper scene-setting introduction Clear description of the sources to give
a basis for evaluation and critical commentary
Clear specific arguments which show understanding and insight
Organisation; written as an essay (although many will follow the NAB idea and still work quite well)
Critical commentary
Is explicit and effectively incorporated Has commentary on the sources and
viewpoints and is not a continuous rant about individual words
Shows balance and is supported by other reading i.e. contexualisation
Well argued conclusion which is not just a repetition of points already made; provides focus