110 replies to this topic

[lthompson]

At last !! Someone else in the same boat as we are !! We also do Nazi Germany for Paper 1 & limited resources mean that we will also do our CA on USA 1919-41 as this is a previous unit we have taught for coursework.
Do you have any idea yet of a suitable question to set on this topic ? I like the idea of a task based on the significance of the individual as I don't think this question can be greatly changed year by year but am not sure if FDR & the New Deal really fit the bill. I think a more suitable quation would be based around the judgement of the New Deal as a success/failure but not sure if this would fit in with the generic questions.
Do you have any ideas? Any & all advice very gratefully received !!

As we do the Germany depth study on paper 1 we obviously can't cover it for the controlled assessment as well so I'm going for the USA 1919-41 for our controlled assessment. I've come up with a proposed programme of study and now need to run it by OCR to get the green light or any other feedback. We plan to do the controlled assessment in September of Year 11.

I might be missing something but I cant find the e-mail or phone number of the controlled assessment consultant anywhere! Can anyone shed any light on this?

Of course I'm also interested in what other people think as well so have attached the outline. If anyone wants it to amend or tweak for themselves then please feel free.

[lthompson]

hI
Am not doing it for our OCR CA but have used a similiar unit with Year 9 as a Foundation course for GCSE. We used the SHP 'What is History?' books for Year 9 as they look at terrorism across the last 1000 years by picking up on case studies. Some good modern examples included. Also a teachers resource book available. You probably wouldn't want more as terrorism is only really dealt with in the first section - book then goes onto crime & punishment, top topics etc. Probable a bit basic for GCSE but some good material & key questions.

Wondering what people are doing for their controlled assessment???? Was looking at changes in terrorism over the last 40 years but have tiny budget so no possibility of buying resources, have never taught this before and starting to think im being too ambitious! Any suggestions?

[lthompson]

hI
Am not doing it for our OCR CA but have used a similiar unit with Year 9 as a Foundation course for GCSE. We used the SHP 'What is History?' books for Year 9 as they look at terrorism across the last 1000 years by picking up on case studies. Some good modern examples included. Also a teachers resource book available. You probably wouldn't want more as terrorism is only really dealt with in the first section - book then goes onto crime & punishment, top topics etc. Probably a bit basic for GCSE but some good material & key questions to start off with.

Wondering what people are doing for their controlled assessment???? Was looking at changes in terrorism over the last 40 years but have tiny budget so no possibility of buying resources, have never taught this before and starting to think im being too ambitious! Any suggestions?

[lthompson]

Anyone else planning to use the old depth study unit 'USA 1919-45' for their Controlled Assessment? We will probably have to use it owing to lack of funding for any new resources.
Not sure if it is best to focus on FDR as a 'significant individual' or just use it as a study in depth & hope that we will be able to tweak every year to match questions set. Don't want to re write all source / info bookletes & SOW every year though !!
Any ideas of what would be best focus?

[jengibbo]

We have decided to use the exemplar SOW on the significance of the individual and look at Martin Luther King. I will be writing the SOW and preparing a source booklet when exams are over. I downloaded the questions from the Interchange today "How important was individual X (MLK) compared to Individual Y (Malcolm X). I presume this will be acceptable.

[BarbaraH]

We're doing something similar - but am thinking of comparing importance of MLK to LBJ in achieving Civil Rights. Not sure that Malcolm X provides a useful comparison. You need to say what you are comparing them for. We thought that LBJ gives the chance to discuss inspiration versus practical politics and use modern Obama getting the healthcare bill passed as example. There also seems the possiblity of using the question from the depth study for civil rights. We're intending the kids to write this up in second half of summer term and submit marks in 2011.

[jengibbo]

Thanks Barbara I had thought that Malcom X might not be the right comparision will use LBJ instead. Are we required to submit our question to OCR for checking??

[BarbaraH]

I'm going to submit so there's no problem later!

[Roy Huggins]

We have decided to use the exemplar SOW on the significance of the individual and look at Martin Luther King. I will be writing the SOW and preparing a source booklet when exams are over. I downloaded the questions from the Interchange today "How important was individual X (MLK) compared to Individual Y (Malcolm X). I presume this will be acceptable.

Hi Jengibo,

Double check to make sure that the exemplar material that you've downloaded isn't for assessment in the June 2010 series. From what I can remember from the inset, the questions set will be different for assessment next year. However, I could be wrong but I think the new question format is due to be posted at the end of this month or the start of next?

Kind Regards

Roy
PS Check to make sure that it says for assessment in June 2011

[jengibbo]

The question I have downloaded is the 2011 question both the 2010 and 2011 question are on the Interchange. I am using the exemplar SOW provided in the CA documentation for my own SOW.

Jennifer

[Simon Ross]

The question I have downloaded is the 2011 question both the 2010 and 2011 question are on the Interchange. I am using the exemplar SOW provided in the CA documentation for my own SOW.

Jennifer

I think the individual question for 2011 is really tricky, as it requires a comparison of different individuals. Even the advice sheet to candidates no longer makes sense - referring to 'your individual' (singular) throughout. Our individual is Mandela and although our SOW looks at other individuals, I don't believe they have enough - after all, this question will now require 1000 words on one individual (Mandela) and 1000 words on another (De Klerk? Tembo?). I also think it limits the ability of candidates to assess importance against other impersonal factors.

I'm really frustrated as I think it is going to require the SOW to be re-written to target this style of question much more. So, despite the reassurances, it looks like yearly re-writing of SOWs will be required. Why couldn't it have simply been a sensible question about an individual. For example, was X the only factor in Y? How far has the importance of X been exaggerated? Perhaps in high flying independent schools students will simply be able to adapt themselves, but we have students working hard for an E. One of the selling points of the OCR History GCSE is that it is supposed to be one tier, open access.

GRRRRRRRRRR!

Edited by Simon Ross, 19 April 2010 - 12:14 PM.

[jengibbo]

I am now seriously beginning to stress myself out about CA. I completely agree with you Simon about the comparision because if I compare Martin Luther King to Malcolm X we don't have enough for 1000 words and the same if I compare to LBJ. I am now thinking that maybe the depth study question maybe better and use our resources from Nazi Germany Legacy Coursework but that question is not that amazing either: How far did X change over the period Y. Any ideas greatly appreciated.

[BarbaraH]

If you do the depth study you could look at how far Black Americans achieved Civil Rights from 1945 - 1975 for example. But at the training session the samples on how the lives of Black Americans changed in the 20s and 30s was not well done. Too much describing and not enough diversity etc

[Jayne]

I have just got back after spending the day at the OCR Getting Started Inset. Firstly, I have to say it was invaluable, and lots of issues that I had have been resolved by attending.

One thing that the trainer was adamant about is that you have to teach in depth regardless of the question, and very close inspection of all the pupils work will be made to ensure that no-one is teaching to the question.

It is invisaged that teaching will take approximately 2/3 of a term, then the 8 hours will be split into 4 planning hours and 4 writing up the essay. We were also given some scripts to mark, and they included the Role of Lenin in the 1917 Revolutions. These were based on his role as opposed to other factors, including Trotsky, so that might be the way to look at your CA. It was also suggested that teaching of this would be based around thinking about what criteria would be used in measuring the role of an individual, both long and short-term before moving on to your candidate. Roosevelt and the New Deal was mentioned as a distinct possibility. Another focus for USA was how far where you lived was a factor in standards of living.

The terrorism question was best approached by looking at a terrorist event (of pref the last 30-40 years) and discussing how events of the past had shaped it, ie 9/11 the obvious one.

I hope that helps you. It has given me a lot of food for thought, although like most of us it will invariably come down to ever decreasing budgets and lack of time which will decide what we can offer

Jayne

[BarbaraH]

The colleague who went to an earlier session gained the distinct impression that Roosevelt was not a good individual to choose as there is little doubt about his significance.