110 replies to this topic

[jilljam]

i too have been on that training session and again was given the impression that FDR is not a good one to do as there is no other individual to compare him to. I also thought the 'How far did where you live in America affect your prosperity' was a really poorly worded question and left the pupils in riddles trying to answer it!

I am still thinking something on Nazi Germany - Do you think comparing the importance of Goebbels and Himmler is too hard for GCSE?

[Roy Huggins]

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.

I suppose you have to ask the question significant in what context, putting the USA back to work? There are clear Democratic and Republican interpretations on the significance of the New Deal. However, that question might be better raised in the study in depth: To what extend was the New Deal responisble for putting the USA back to work. (Not seen the new format of questions)

Any chance someone could post the lastest interchange document for June 2010 on this thread?

Kind Regards

Roy

[Judy G]

I've got a paper copy only of the new style questions Roy so I'll just quickly type them in:

The role of the individual is:
"How important was individual X compared to individual Y?" (Example: "How important was Lenin compared to Trotsky in the Bolsheviks coming to power?")

A thematic study is:
"Did changes in X over the period Y only have a harmful impact on people's lives?"
(Example: "Did the changes in warfare during the first half of the twentieth century only have a harmful impact on people's lives?")

A modern world study is:
"Why is the present situation in X best explained by a study of the past?"
(Example: Why is the present situation in Afghanistan best explained by a study of the past?")

A study in depth is:
"How far did X change over the period Y?"
(Example: "How far did the lives of the German people change over the period 1918-1945.")

I'm thinking of maybe doing the study in depth on Russia - perhaps 'How far did the lives of the Russian people change over the period 1905-1945?' Any thoughts as to the pros and cons of this question?

Edited by Judy G, 22 April 2010 - 08:30 PM.

[Roy Huggins]

Many thanks Judy you are a star!

I'm possibly thinking along the lines of how far did the:

• civil rights of the German people( or Black people in the USA) change in the period .....
• status and position of women in Britain change in the period 1960 to 1997
• status and position of Jews in Germany change in the period 1918 to 1945?

Or

How important was Mrs Thatcher compared to Arthur Scargill in the failure of the Great Miners Strike in 1984?

I shall pass on the list to my department to see what they come up with!

Kind Regards

Roy
PS If anyone wants a SOW on the Miners Strike and some resources then get in touch

Edited by Roy Huggins, 23 April 2010 - 12:53 AM.

[marie w]

I too am very annoyed by this year question - having been on the get started course aswell - I was reassured that we could teach our topic every year and then the questions will be made to fit but again we were going to do the individual and this has now changed as ours was Stalin - looking at his role and legacy but now we have to include another individual so it means altering the SOW or going for study in depth and therefore ending up with a possible descriptive answer. Does anyone have possible question ideas for either the study indepth or individual. Based on either Stalin/ Russia 1905-1953 or possible Hitler/ Germany 1919-1939 as this seems the easiest course of action now. All ideas I come up with for depth study question seems to lead to descriptive responses and a jog through the story of the time period specified. HELP!

[marie w]

I've got a paper copy only of the new style questions Roy so I'll just quickly type them in:

The role of the individual is:
"How important was individual X compared to individual Y?" (Example: "How important was Lenin compared to Trotsky in the Bolsheviks coming to power?")

A thematic study is:
"Did changes in X over the period Y only have a harmful impact on people's lives?"
(Example: "Did the changes in warfare during the first half of the twentieth century only have a harmful impact on people's lives?")

A modern world study is:
"Why is the present situation in X best explained by a study of the past?"
(Example: Why is the present situation in Afghanistan best explained by a study of the past?")

A study in depth is:
"How far did X change over the period Y?"
(Example: "How far did the lives of the German people change over the period 1918-1945.")

I'm thinking of maybe doing the study in depth on Russia - perhaps 'How far did the lives of the Russian people change over the period 1905-1945?' Any thoughts as to the pros and cons of this question?

I like this idea but worry it could be too vast and lead to chronology - is there a way you can specifiy groups? of break into Russia under lenin and then stalin? NEP etc? I too am in seem place and finding this hard to avoid story telling

[Wills]

Do you know if we have to use the exact wording e.g. 'change'

"How far did X change over the period Y?"

I teach USA 1900-1945 as a rule for course work and the questions for next year are not great but I was thinking:

'How far was the USA a fair and free society over the period 1900-1929'?

I cannot figure a way of adding the 'change' to the question as I want the students to consider various elements of continuity and change and not focus on one element.

[johnwayne]

hi - are the new questions out on interchange now then for 2011?

Also, I was thinking of studying FDR as the individual or the new deal as an event? we have loads of new text books on these topics and I am loathe to change. any advice please???

[Roy Huggins]

Do you know if we have to use the exact wording e.g. 'change'

"How far did X change over the period Y?"

I teach USA 1900-1945 as a rule for course work and the questions for next year are not great but I was thinking:

'How far was the USA a fair and free society over the period 1900-1929'?

I cannot figure a way of adding the 'change' to the question as I want the students to consider various elements of continuity and change and not focus on one element.

You must use the exact wording! Look above at my examples. If in doubt check with a coursework advisor

Roy

[lthompson]

Do you know if we have to use the exact wording e.g. 'change'

"How far did X change over the period Y?"

I teach USA 1900-1945 as a rule for course work and the questions for next year are not great but I was thinking:

'How far was the USA a fair and free society over the period 1900-1929'?

I cannot figure a way of adding the 'change' to the question as I want the students to consider various elements of continuity and change and not focus on one element.

[lthompson]

We also do interwar USA for coursework so are in the same position. I noticed the sample study indepth question focuses on Germany - I think it may be possible to use this question but amend it to USA 1919-41. This should allow students to look at a range of changes & continuities & to identify different experiences for different groups, e.g black american, farmers, women, immigrants etc. You could then stick to to most of the original SOW contents published by OCR. Alternatively you could just focus on one era, i.e. 1920's or Depression - but the sample question does cover all of the German depth study so it should be possible to amend it to cover all of the USA depth study.
Not sure if this is ok - wil have to get a consultant to double check it but I think it should work.

[Jayne]

I was told at the INSET last week that you can 'tweak' the questions and just need to run your proposal past the Consultancy Dept at OCR for confirmation. It appears that as usual things are not going to run as smoothly as was promised ;-( We are toying with the idea of doing something on Jack the Ripper but having just looked at the set questions I am struggling to come up with any ideas

Edited by Jayne, 27 April 2010 - 07:09 PM.

[johnwayne]

I was told at the INSET last week that you can 'tweak' the questions and just need to run your proposal past the Consultancy Dept at OCR for confirmation. It appears that as usual things are not going to run as smoothly as was promised ;-( We are toying with the idea of doing something on Jack the Ripper but having just looked at the set questions I am struggling to come up with any ideas

hi - I really am trying to get my head around all this. Does anyone on this forum have the email for the coursework consultancy people (GCSE) please? I was hoping by emailing them it would be quicker.

p.s. looking at doing FDR or Hoover as a possibility???? as we don't want to buy any more new resources!!

[BarbaraH]

courseworkconsultancy@ocr.org.uk
Details are on the website. They guarantee an answer in ten working days I think - but mine was almost by return.

I'm now rethinking how we teach the course next year. This year we did modern Britain at the beginning of year 10 and sat the exam in January and are doing the controlled assessment with the 2011 question in June. Although the January module results were good we were a bit rushed and we have had acres of time for the controlled assessment. Because we are using the 2011 question the kids won't be able to resit this part of the course.
In year 11 they will do WW1 and international relations.

I'm thinking of doing WW1 first next year as controlled assessment and then Britain in June - this would mean more time for Britain and the chance to resit both. However I'm struggling to fit WW1 into the 2011 questions. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? There is a suggested question on warfare in the first half of the 20th century, but this seems a very large topic. don't know who you would use as individual - who would you compare Haig to? And the other two questions don't seem to fit particularly well.

I would be interested in anyone else's thoughts on this.

[Andrew Day]

We also do interwar USA for coursework so are in the same position. I noticed the sample study indepth question focuses on Germany - I think it may be possible to use this question but amend it to USA 1919-41. This should allow students to look at a range of changes & continuities & to identify different experiences for different groups, e.g black american, farmers, women, immigrants etc. You could then stick to to most of the original SOW contents published by OCR. Alternatively you could just focus on one era, i.e. 1920's or Depression - but the sample question does cover all of the German depth study so it should be possible to amend it to cover all of the USA depth study.
Not sure if this is ok - wil have to get a consultant to double check it but I think it should work.

I'm going to submit "How far did the lives of the American people change over the period 1919-41." Obviously this is a broad question but it enables the students to include everything from prohibition, the boom of the 1920s and the Great Depression and Roosevelts New Deal. It also fits pretty well with the example given by OCR in their guidance notes.

I've had my outline programme of study approved and I've posted a link to that earlier in the thread.

I'm now half way through compiling the source pack. If anyone wants to e-mail me to swap resources I'd be happy to exchange materials. I've mainly got photos and cartoons up to now. How many sources are people including in their packs?

a.day@hodgson.lancs.sch.uk