2. Understanding Standards:
National 5 Biology
Course assessment
Assignment

3. Conditions of assessment
It is essential that the specified conditions are consistently applied in all centres.
The assignment has two stages.
Stage
Level of control
research
conducted under some supervision and control
report
conducted under a high degree of supervision and control

4. Conditions of assessment

5. Malpractice Candidate malpractice collusion with others
the use of prohibited materials
copying from another candidate
working collaboratively on an individual task
plagiarism
Centre malpractice
failure to apply specified SQA assessment conditions, eg limits on resources; time available

6. Assignment format Two stages research report Research choose topic
formulate aim
plan & carry out an experiment
carry out internet/literature research
Report
write a report

7. Research stage Teachers and/or lecturers must ensure that:
candidates understand the requirements of the task by issuing and discussing the ‘instructions for candidates’

8. Research stage Teachers and/or lecturers must:
agree the choice of topic with the candidate to ensure that
it is a topic at National 5 level
it has associated experimental work that can generate numerical data
it will allow candidates the opportunity to access all of the available marks

9. Research stage Teachers and/or lecturers must ensure that:
they provide advice on the suitability of the aim
are there any health and safety concerns?
are the resources they need available?
will they be able to find comparable data or information?

10. Research stage Teachers and/or lecturers can:
provide candidates with an experimental procedure
allow candidates to carry out the experiment individually or in small groups (up to four candidates)

11. Research stage Teachers and/or lecturers can:
provide candidates with an experimental procedure
allow candidates to carry out the experiment individually or in small groups (up to four candidates)

12. Research stage Teachers and/or lecturers can:
provide candidates with a wide list (minimum six) of URLs/books/journals, which contain data relevant to the candidate’s experiment
support candidates in their search for data/information relevant to their experiment, not do the research for them by providing them with this data

13. Research stage
Candidates can also have access to websites, journals and/or books to find information on the underlying biology.
They may take extracts from these to assist them in writing about the underlying biology in the report stage.

14. Research stage Extracts include: photocopies print-outs
information copied verbatim
Candidates must not make their own notes as these are not allowed to be used during the report stage.

15. Research stage
Teachers and/or lecturers must not provide candidates with feedback on their research.

16. Report stage
Candidates must be given a maximum of 1 hour and 30 minutes to produce the report:
can be a continuous period of time or split over a number of sessions
candidates’ work must be retained and stored securely between sessions
centres must ensure candidates are given no more than the allocated time

17. Report stage must be in direct sight of the teacher or lecturer
display materials which might provide assistance are removed or covered
no access to , internet or mobile phones
candidates work completely independently
no assistance of any description is provided

18. Report stage
The only materials which can be used in the report stage are:
the instructions for candidates
their own raw experimental data
the internet or literature data/information (including a record of the source)
extracts from internet/literature sources
the experimental method

19. Report stage extracts from internet/literature sources
Candidate notes must not be used during the report stage.
Complete textbooks must not be used during the report stage.

20. Report stage
Candidates must not have access to previously prepared drafts of:
a report
an aim
the underlying biology
calculation(s) of any type, including mean values
a graph
an analysis
a conclusion
an evaluation

21. Candidate’s Report

22. Candidate’s Report
Title (1)
informative
Aim (1)
clearly describes the purpose of the assignment

23. Candidate’s Report
Underlying biology (3)
relevant to the aim
expanded descriptions and explanations at National 5 level
use their own words

24. Candidate’s Report
A brief description (summary) of the approach used to collect the experimental data (1)

25. Candidate’s Report
Experimental data (1)
sufficient raw data from the experimental work
Table of results (1)
correct headings and units
Mean values (1)
correct mean values

26. Candidate’s Report
Data from internet/literature source
include data/information suitable for comparison with the experimental data (1)
reference the source of this data/information (1)

27. Candidate’s Report
Graphical presentation (4)
a graph of experimental results
appropriate format
suitable scales, labels and units
accurately plotted points/bars

28. Candidate’s Report
Analysis (1)
compare the experimental data with the data or information from the internet/ literature source

29. Candidate’s Report
Conclusion (1)
state a conclusion which relates to the aim
supported by all the data/information in the report

30. Candidate’s Report
Evaluation
identify a factor which had a significant effect on the experimental work/fieldwork (1)
provide an explanation(1)
explain what was done to minimise its effect or
explain what could have been done to minimise its effect
explain how they know it had a significant
effect

31. Candidate’s Report
Structure (1)
must be clear, concise and flow logically