Psychology News

Psychology Short Cuts 2 from onlineclassroom.tv

December 17th, 2007

 

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.

Posted in Resources, dvds, onlineclassroom by Mark Holah | 3 Comments »

Insight Conferences - spring dates

December 11th, 2007

 

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.

Posted in Conferences, Insight Conferences by Mark Holah | No Comments »

Edexcel to offer GCSE psychology

December 7th, 2007

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.

Posted in GCSE, Results, Specifications, aqa, edexcel, ocr by Mark Holah | No Comments »

The future of the AEA

December 7th, 2007

 

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.

Posted in AEA, QCA, Resources, Results, aqa by Mark Holah | 1 Comment »

Increased profits for Edexcel

November 25th, 2007

 

T.E.S. have discovered that Edexcel’s profits have risen seven-fold in three years and that one of Edexcel’s directors earned a whopping £450,000 in pay and pensions contributions last year - easily the highest known figure earned by anyone in British education.

In 2005 Edexcel became the first large examination board to be held in private hands when Pearson PLC took complete control. Edexcel was formerly a charity.

Pearson PLC is a media conglomerate and is the largest book publisher in the UK and the second largest in the US. Edexcel’s status as a profit making company has led to criticisms and calls into question conflict of interest within the education system, as a private publisher runs an examining board, which relies on set texts for many of its courses.

According to the report in TES, since its takeover by the Pearson publishing group in 2003, Edexcel has moved from a yearly profit after tax of £3.6 million to the latest total of £25.1m on a £203m turnover.

In January 2007, Pearson announced that it had agreed to acquire Harcourt Assessment and Harcourt Education International for $950m in cash. Harcourt Assessment is a company that publishes and distributes psychological assessment tools and therapy resources. Harcourt Education International is a leading educational company who in the UK publish as Heinemann.

In response to the profits announced by Edexcel John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, said, “This raises a big question as to who this money is for. Is it for a private company or is it for the good and quality of the examination system?”

Here is the story in TES

Posted in Specifications, edexcel, tes by Mark Holah | 2 Comments »

AQA (A) still the clear league leader

November 23rd, 2007

 

The AQA (A) specification is still the clear leader in terms of number of students sitting the different specifications.

Last June (2007) 60.6% of students sitting A level psychology followed the AQA (A) specifications and 60.4% of students sitting AS psychology followed the AQA (A) route.

Below are figures taken from the various awarding bodies’ websites.

Percentage of students sitting A level psychology June 2007

AQA (A)   60.6%
OCR         19.9%
AQA (B)   10.2%
Edexcel      9.2%

Percentage of students sitting AS level psychology June 2007

AQA (A)    60.4%
OCR          19.2%
AQA (B)    10.1%
Edexcel       8.6%
WJEC          1.8%

Below are the percentages of students sitting A level psychology June 2006

AQA (A)    60.3%
OCR          18.5%
AQA (B)    11.0%
Edexcel     10.2%

The percentages are all rounded up to 1 decimal point.

Posted in JCQ, Results, Specifications, WJEC, aqa, edexcel, ocr by Mark Holah | No Comments »

OCR Marking - again

November 23rd, 2007

 

Last month Warwick Mansell, a journalist working for TES, discovered that examiners who were remarking OCR psychology papers were told not to change students’ A-level marks after school or college appeals unless there are overwhelming reasons to do so.

This is of course particularly cruel for those students who had their papers badly marked the first time and damages the trust that psychology teachers have with OCR.

The advice for those examiners remarking said, “When scripts are re-marked, additional marks should be awarded (or marks deducted) only when a demonstrable error is found in the application of the marking scheme. If a degree of subjectivity is involved, very strong grounds are needed to change the original mark. If you are broadly in agreement with the mark, please do not change it.”

Furthermore, a number of teachers have e-mailed me noting that attempts at discussing this on the OCR psychology e-list have been censored.

Read the full story here

Posted in ocr, tes by Mark Holah | No Comments »

Human Brain Anatomy Course: 2nd-4th April 2008

November 21st, 2007

 

This course looks fascinating, and should be of interest to psychology teachers wanting to extend their knowledge about human brain anatomy. The three-day programme incorporates integrated lectures and dissection-room practicals, examining human brains and includes functional anatomy of the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia and limbic system.

The course is led by Dr Paul Johns BSc BM MSc (Specialist Registrar, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square) and provides a detailed overview of human brain anatomy presented in a very clear and accessible way.

The 3-day programme will be held in the Easter holidays (2nd-4th April 2008) at the Institute of Child Health, London WC1
Go over to the web site www.neurocourses.com to find out more.

Posted in Courses by Mark Holah | No Comments »

Transferring from AQA to OCR is not permitted

November 16th, 2007

 

Individual candidates who move to another centre or who, for other reasons, have to change their course of study part way through a GCE psychology course may be eligible to transfer credit between specifications. Transfer is not automatic - an application must be made to the receiving awarding body.

However, transfer is not possible from AQA to OCR. According to J.C.Q. documentation OCR does not accept AQA because the OCR specification is thematic whereas AQA specification is topic based.

Posted in JCQ, Specifications, aqa, edexcel, ocr by Mark Holah | No Comments »

The number of students sitting A level psychology has fallen for the first time.

November 16th, 2007

 

Has the number of students sitting A level psychology reached a plateaux or are we going to see a decline?

According to data from the J.C.Q. the number of students sitting A level psychology has fallen for the first time.

In June 2007 52,048 candidates sat A level psychology whereas in June 2006 the number was 52,621. Both figures however still represent approximately 6.5% of the total number of students sitting A levels.

A level psychology is currently the fifth biggest A level and the third biggest AS level.

Psychology has until this year been growing at an incredible pace when, for example, one notes that only as far back as 2001 31,740 candidates sat A level psychology.    The initial examination entry in 1972 was 272 candidates and by 1997 the number of candidates had grown to 28,ooo. 

Below are the data for the past seven years

Number of A level Psychology candidates sitting the exams in June

2007

52048 which is 6.5% of total students sitting the June exams. 13176 were male and 38872 were female

2006

52621 which is 6.5% of total students sitting the June exams. 13485 were male and 39176 were female

2005

50035 which is 6.4% of total students sitting the June exams. 12798 were male and 37237 were female

2004

46933 which is 6.1% of total students sitting the June exams. 11875 were male and 35058 female

2003

41949 which is 5.6% of total students sitting the June exams. 10193 were male and 31756 were female

2002

34611 which is 4.9% of total students sitting the June exams. 8038 were male and were 26573 female

2001

31740 which is 4.2% of total students sitting the June exams. 7188 were male and 24552 female
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in JCQ, Results, Specifications by Mark Holah | 2 Comments »