Assessing and Moderating Independent Study Projects in School Presented by: Christine Andrews (AQA’s Principal Moderator for The Extended Project Qualification) Version 3.0 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

What does The Extended Project Qualification seek to develop? Independent study skills Research skills Academic writing skills Presentation skills Welcome to my Presentation! Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

What is an Extended Project? Learners are required, with appropriate supervision, to: Choose an area of interest Draft a project title and aims for approval by the Centre Plan, research and carry out the project Deliver a presentation to a specified audience Provide evidence of all stages of project development and production for assessment Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

What are we assessing? Knowledge recall? Specified content? Skills learned and developed? Version 3.0 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

The Taught Element Core Skills Required: Time Management Skills Research Skills and Evaluation of Sources Report Writing Skills Referencing and Bibliography Creation How to avoid Plagiarism Presentation Skills Reflection and Evaluation Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

What else are we assessing? Decision making Autonomy Response to advice Communication: clarity of expression, logical argument, concision Ability to develop/expand/focus initial ideas Ability to draw conclusions based on evidence Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Titles that invite Higher Skills? ‘The Psychology of Crime’ ‘The Law doesn’t work. Discuss’ ‘The Life of a TV producer’ ‘Disney Princesses’ ‘Formation and Topography of Deserts’ ‘Marijuana’ ‘How Disability has changed in England’ ‘Growth and Development of Major Engineering Firms’ ‘The Big Bang, what is it about?’ ‘How the Indian Economy has changed in the last 70 years’ ‘How is Spain affected by Tourism?’ ‘Explore how Cameras Developed between 2000 and 2010’ ‘The History of Tartan’ ‘The Stem Cell Debate’ Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Titles that invite Higher Skills? ‘Do Disney films emphasise the importance of segregated gender roles?’ ‘Is therapeutic shoeing really necessary for horses?’ ‘Does the mathematics curriculum equip students adequately in the 21st century?’ ‘What does the Book of Psalms add to traditional Theodicy?’ ‘Is there a link between musical education and academic performance?’ ‘Should cameras be allowed in English courts?’ ‘Why have young Japanese men and women stopped having sex?’ ‘Should bankers get a bonus in the current economic climate?’ ‘Why do only 1% of UK mothers follow NHS guidelines to breastfeed exclusively for 6 months and how might this statistic be increased?’ ‘Is veganism a healthy lifestyle?’ Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Assessment Objectives Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

AO1 Identification of topic to be investigated Appropriate aims and objectives Project planning Monitoring progress Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

AO2 Research Selection of resources Evaluation of resources Analysis and application of resources Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

AO3 Decision making Implementation of project plan Realisation of ‘product’ Changes to and/or development of initial ideas Synthesis of information from different sources Communication of findings Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

AO4 Evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of completed project Evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of candidate’s own learning Conclusions reached based on evidence and judgement Conclusions communicated Material relevant, well structured and appropriately presented Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

We are assessing the Application of Skills Think of the chosen ‘Product’ as merely the ‘clothes horse’ on which the candidate can ‘hang’ or demonstrate the skills they have acquired Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Assessment Assessment is terminal and holistic – evidence for any objective may come in different forms for different projects The Taught Element is not itself the basis for any assessment evidence – all assessment is from evidence that is the learner’s choice and from the use, by the learner, of Taught Skills/techniques in the course of their project work Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

The Three Criterion Bands The Upper Band descriptions are typified by the words clear and detailed. A good project will achieve marks in this band where each criterion is likely to be evidenced in several ways. The upper half of the Upper Band may usefully be related to the available grade description for A*. The Middle Band descriptions are typified by the word some. The project process is likely to have been successfully completed but with some lack of detail or clarity. Aspects are likely to be evidenced in only one or few ways. The Lower Band descriptions are typified by the word limited. Attempts have been made at each element of the process that fail to fully achieve at Level 3. 18 of 28 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Assessing Work – Questions to consider... When assessing the work, ask yourself these questions: What might reasonably be expected at A2 of an advanced level student (16-19)? Is there evidence of over 90+ hours of independent and autonomous work together with 30+ hours of Taught Skills? Is the work submitted individual, extended and does it demonstrate stretch and challenge? 21 of 28 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Assessment Marking Extended Projects can be very challenging, especially the first time. Do not attempt to assess projects until you have been ‘standardised’ and feel that you have understood the standard Try not to work in isolation Swap projects with a colleague and be brutally honest if you think they have not yet understood the standard. Beware awarding marks for ‘effort’...submitted evidence is the only permitted basis for assessment. It is very hard to be truly objective when assessing a candidate’s submission, you have spent the last several months watching this project grow and develop. Do not interfere in any way with a candidate’s final submission...they are being assessed in part, on choosing appropriate evidence. Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Required Assessment Evidence Project Product Including a written report and any other evidence, as appropriate, depending on the topic or subject area chosen Production Log & Assessment Record (15 pages) Including the Project Proposal Forms, details of Taught Skills, Presentation Record and Candidate Record Form (all appropriately signed and dated) Examples of well described Taught Skills packages? Signing and dating log book pages could be seen as celebration, rather than chore. 5 of 28 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Too much material If a candidate submits too much material, you must mark it... probably both AO3 and AO4 will be affected: AO3 if the material fails to be logical and coherent AO4 because inevitably the material will not all be relevant AO4 may also be affected if the material is not well structured Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Too much material Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Examples of Helpful Additional Evidence (non essential) PowerPoint slides printout (if PowerPoint used) Prezi printout (if Prezi used) Photo of ‘Market Place’ stand (If presentation was Market Place) Presentation notes/cue cards Planning documents (if Gantt chart/action plan/etc. used) Extract from research journal/blog (if one used) Evaluation of sources in appendix if not integrated into log/report Video/photographic evidence of product realisation (especially useful for artefacts) Single copy of pilot questionnaire plus single copy of finally used questionnaire (if questionnaire used to gather data) Transcript of interviews (if interviews undertaken) Risk assessment documentation (if undertaken) Raw primary data Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Evidence must be relevant and the submission should be well-structured Candidates should choose what to include and how best to structure their submission Supervisors should not tell candidates what they should include Supervisors should not tell candidates how to structure their submission Supervisors should not alter/rearrange/add to/reduce a candidate’s submission Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Assessment and Moderation Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

I think your AO3 mark is spot on! Internal Moderation Organised by the Centre Coordinator May involve all supervisors or just a few Takes time, please allow for this in planning delivery of the specification I think your AO3 mark is spot on! Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

External AQA Moderation AQA moderators select a small sample to check that the AQA standard has been consistently applied throughout the mark range from a Centre AQA moderators will write feedback for each Centre highlighting areas of good practice and any areas that might benefit from further development Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Thank You Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.