Practical work

Practical work

• What is practical work?• Why do we do practical work?• How much practical work is in the course?• How much practical work is assessed for the

examination?

21 Century Science

• Core Science• Additional Science• Additional Applied Science• Separate Sciences

Core Science

• Practical work total 33.3%

• Case Study 20%• Data analysis 13.3%

Case Study

• The subject matter is chosen by the pupil usually linked to an aspect of the course.

• The report can take a variety of formats.• Skills required are those taught in the course • E.g. Judging the reliability of data

Assessing the quality of the scienceAbility to extract informationAbility to find arguments for and againstAbility to critically evaluate dataAbility to reach a conclusionAbility to communicate information effectively

Data Analysis

• Pupils carry out practical work and collect results.

• Results from more than one group can be included in the analysis

• The assessment starts at the results table and includes the analysis and evaluation of the data

Additional Science

• Practical work total 33.3%

• One complete investigation 33.3%

• Pupils have to plan, carry out, analyse and evaluate an experiment.

Separate Sciences

Choice • Single InvestigationOr• Case Study plus Data Analysis

Additional Applied Science

• Practical work Total 50 %

• Work related report 16.7%• Standard procedures (6) 12%• Suitability Test 21%

Work related report

• Pupils research and write a report on the role of a person whose job is covered during the course such as a doctor, nurse, trading standards official, environmental officer, etc.

• The research includes an interview of someone employed in that role.

• A written report is submitted for assessment.

Suitability Test

• Based on practical work in a “real life” context to assess the suitability of a technique or piece of equipment for a specified task.

Standard procedure

• Pupils carry out a series of six standard procedures which are integral to the course.

Gateway Science

• Total practical work 33%• Either: • “Can do” tasks 13.2%• Science in the News 19.8%• Or:• Research task 13.3%• Data analysis task 16.7%• Practical skills 3.3%

Can do tasks

• Eight tasks out of 43 submitted. • These are graded tasks worth from one to

three marks.• Assess practical skills through experiments

that are integral to the course.• Can do any number of tasks and submit the

best marks.

Science in the News

• Stimulus material provided by OCR. Article to research and evaluate (will include data).

• Students then complete a written report of not more than 800 words, based on Qs given.

• Any number may be attempted but only 1 submitted.

• Teacher marked using detailed mark scheme provided by OCR.

Research task

• OCR provide the task, research prompts and assessment criteria.

• Students have 1 week to carry out their research and submit a report on this.

• They then complete the Case Study report (not more than800 words).

• Teacher marked using the assessment criteria provided.

Data Analysis task

• Analysis and evaluation of data and experimental task.

• Primary and secondary data. • OCR-set task. • Teacher marked using detailed mark scheme

provided by OCR.

Edexcel

• Total practical work 40%• Three practical tasks 30%• Teacher assessed practical skills 10%

Edexcel

• IAA tasks, practical tasks defined by Edexcel to be carried out in class.

• Task assessed by a written paper undertaken under controlled conditions

• 3 tasks one each for biology, Physics and Chemistry

• Teacher assessment of general practical skills

Comments from teachers• Assessed practical work must be integral to the course and use /

reinforce the learning objectives and skills which are developed during the course.

• Teachers need the freedom to use the assessed practical at the appropriate point in the course.

• Assessing practical skills by a written paper taken under exam conditions seems incongruous

• Practical work should be tailored to the course, the requirements of Applied Science are very different to Additional Science.

• However communality between Additional Science and the separate Sciences is useful as it allows flexibility in teaching , is easier to manage and reduces the training requirement for staff.

Moderation of practical work

• Marking is always subjective• Training is essential, should it be mandatory?• Depends upon the experience and consistency

of exam board moderators

Issues

• Concerns about plagiarism could ruin good assessment of practical work.

• Pressure from school SMT due to the number of modular GCSE courses all requiring controlled assessment.

• Reduction in the % of marks allocated for practical assessment