I first purchased Exam Genie a few years ago for one of my students. The small book and supporting materials are very student friendly and simple to follow.
I have since directed a number of students to this website if they want tips on mnemonics for exams and the feedback from students has been very good. I am currently trying to persuade our librarian to purchase some copies of Exam Genie too.
The memory aid only costs about ten quid and the support (including the learning styles questionnaire) on the web site is pretty good too.
The author, Richard Ogden is an occupational psychologist and member of the BPS.
Visit the site at www.studysuccess.co.uk
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) has this month announced plans for changes to GCSE qualifications – including psychology GCSE.
Teaching of the new criteria will begin in 2009 (if you are teaching the course over two years) and the first awards will be given in 2011.
The awarding bodies will have to produce a subject criteria that explains the general aims of studying the subject at GCSE, outline the core material that should be present in all specifications irrespective of the awarding body, and indicate the assessment objectives and the scheme of assessment.
This will have to be submitted to the regulators in spring 2008, with the majority of these being accredited by August 2008. The specifications will be available from September 2008, with first teaching from September 2009.
Currently OCR and AQA offer GCSE psychology although Edexcel is proposing to offer GCSE psychology.
For psychology, coursework will be dropped, the content will be updated, be more consistent and comparable between the different awarding bodies, and inline with current 14-19 curriculum developments, the assessment arrangements will provide stretch and challenge for all learners and make assessment less formulaic and predictable.
Commenting on the new changes, the chief executive of the QCA Dr Ken Boston said, ‘The revised GCSE qualification and subject criteria will ensure that public confidence is maintained in the qualification for the future.’ He added that it will also help to stretch and challenge young people by setting them ‘extended writing tasks and more varied question types’.
Here is the new GCSE subject criteria for psychology.
One of the requirements of the new GCSE psychology specifications is that the GCSE specifications in psychology must require learners to develop knowledge, understanding and skills in the following core areas of psychology:
Biological
Social
Cognitive
Developmental
Individual differences
Hodder Education have promised that their textbook for the new OCR AS specifications will be due before April 2008
The textbook is written by Karen and Louise and for 20 quid you get the book and an interactive CD.
The book will obviously be good. For example, the blurb states that the book is “highly accessible and readable, with useful guidance on comparing studies, applying themes, and learning key concepts and terminology. Each study is introduced in detail, with Background, Aims and Methods to fully contextualise it, and includes Focus on Themes and Focus on Research Methods boxes to aid students. There is also a separate chapter dedicated to Research Methods, and numerous hints and tips for top exam performance”
I am looking forward to the “unique Dynamic Learning Student CD, including: • self-test exercises • knowledge quizzes • multiple-choice questions • wordsearches • crosswords • evaluations and summaries of the core studies. These comprehensive digital resources bring learning to life, allowing students to test their knowledge and understanding of all key areas.
Here is the link to the book
I forgot to mention that I received my pre-ordered copy of this book a few weeks ago from Palgrave.com As far as I know this is the first textbook to be published for the new 2008 specifications.
This is the third edition of the text designed to cover the new studies added to the OCR specifications. If you are planning to teach the OCR specifications, I do recommend the book. The authors have added 14 clear and accurate studies now making a total of 84 research studies.
As in earlier editions, the studies are accessible, lively and engaging. The authors have a real knack of summarising the studies in a wider context and demonstrating the limitations of the empirical research without knocking the stuffing out of the studies as some textbooks do.
I pre-ordered my first copy and then ordered a few more for work and the latter came within three days when ordered through Palgrave.
The only criticism I have of this text is that it does not cover the Sue Savage-Rumbaugh study, although in the authors’ defence this was a late addition to the specifications.
Phil and Cara are also working on a new edition of their OCR Psychology AS Core Studies text (Psychology Press) which will cover the whole of the AS OCR specifications.
Tagged as:
AS,
Banyard,
Books,
ocr,
Palgrave
Following the success of Short Cuts 1 Classic Studies in Psychology, the second Short Cuts collection is being launched in early 2008. If you haven’t already purchased Classic Studies you can purchase it from onlineclassroom.tv
Research in Context: Making statistics accessible
In response to a need identified by teachers, this collection focuses on the new emphasis in the 2008 specs on integrating ‘science’ and statistical analysis into the curriculum.
Each video has been designed to appeal to a student audience: students are featured throughout and each point is grounded in clear illustrative examples.
Each of the five programmes includes a 5-minute video, PowerPoint presentation and tried and tested activities to enhance teaching and learning experiences for students.
As a special bonus the DVD also includes a statistics package, so that students can practice statistical analysis using computer software.
1 How Science Works
Using Piaget’s classic conservation experiment and Donaldson & McGarrigle’s ‘Naughty Teddy’ critique, this video provides an accessible introduction to the hypothetical-deductive method and how scientific knowledge changes and develops.
2 Descriptive Statistics
Two rival bands are vying for a record contract, but what can the producer learn from attendance at their previous concerts? How does an educational psychologist use IQ tests? Descriptive statistics made accessible with clear examples.
3 Data Presentation
A psychologist is studying lonely hearts dating, but what’s the best way of matching data and presentation? Here different types of data meet their pie chart, line graph, scatter graph and bar chart partners.
4 Data Analysis
Simple memory tests are used to give a clear visual representation of nominal, ordinal data and interval data, and how psychologists find out if their results are statistically significant? A statistical analysis package is included.
5 Data Interpretation
Data never ‘speak for themselves’. Here a questionnaire study measuring levels of aggression amongst students is used illustrate data interpretation with tests of difference and data evaluation with the key criteria of validity and reliability.
The price will be about £50.00 + VAT and the DVD should be availabile from Feb/March 2008. As soon as the DVD is released I will post a review. I am sure that it will it be as good as the first Short Cuts DVD which was a real hit with my students.
Insight conferences have announced the dates for their spring Conferences which will take place during February and March 2008.
The Crime Conferences and the Applied Psychology Conferences listed below will be running at the same venues on the same date.
Dates for Crime Conference and Applied Psychology
Stourbridge Town Hall 5th March 2008
Bristol BAWA Centre 7th March 2008
Friends House London 12th March 2008
Further dates are to be confirmed.
Crime Conference
The Keynote Speaker is Nicholas Yarris, an exonerated Death Row Prisoner. The conference will include the topics of Offender Profiling, Eyewitness Testimony, Courtroom Psychology and Psycopathy.
Applied Psychology
Presentations will include Stress, Memory and Mental Health. During the afternoon students will be split into smaller groups and have the opportunity to speak to individuals who suffer with schizophrenia, a terminal brain tumour, addiction and depression. This session will give students an opportunity to gain an insight into conditions they would not necessarily come into contact with.
Edexcel have announced that they are to offer psychology GCSE.
Currently AQA and OCR offer GCSE psychology, which is still a relatively small market. Last summer 3275 candidates sat AQA GCSE psychology and 3843 sat GCSE OCR psychology.
However, looking at the Edexcel web site it does seem that they have some way to go in putting together their new GCSE psychology specifications. They want your help.
Advanced Extension Awards (AEAs) were introduced in summer 2002 and were designed to challenge the most able A level students and to provide opportunities for students to show a greater depth of understanding than required at A level.
The AEA is available in 19 subjects. The subjects offered for AEA have been shared across the awarding bodies. There are two pass grades – Distinction and Merit. Those not reaching the award of Merit are reported as ‘Unclassified’.
Last year there were 11,099 entries for the 19 different AEAs. The pass rate was almost 50% with 18% of entries gaining a Distinction and 31.8% gaining a merit.
The Psychology AEA was introduced in 2005 by AQA and has been running for three years. In June 2005, 903 candidates sat the exam. This rose to 1163 in 2006 and in 2007 dropped to 995. The pass rate for psychology in 2007 was only 28.6% with only 6.3% distinctions and 22.3% merits.
At the time of writing this blog QCA have not yet announced whether the AEA awards will be scrapped when the new A levels are introduced in 2008. As the new A levels are to incorporate a ‘stretch and challenge’ theme it is likely that the AEA award will not be with us for very long.
As the results above show, many psychology teachers have not had a great experience of the psychology AEA and will not be sad to see it disappear.
