Understanding Standards: An overview of course assessment Modern Studies National 5 An overview of course assessment RGB colours for text Purple = R204 G153 B209 & Dark Blue =R0 G51 B102

What this presentation covers overall structure of the revised National 5 Modern Studies course assessment what is changed/unchanged detailed overview of each component general guidance on preparing candidates for assessment

Structure of course assessment Two components Component 1: Question paper Component 2: Assignment

An overview of what is changed/unchanged Question paper Increase in number of marks from 60 to 80 Increase in number of questions Question paper now worth 80% of overall grade Increase in time allocated from 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 20 minutes

An overview of what is changed/unchanged Assignment 20 marks No changes to marks/structure/requirements Three sections – Research Methods, Findings and Conclusions NB – Change only in weighting from 25% to 20%

Component 1 – Question paper Three sections – 6 parts Section 1 – Democracy in Scotland and the UK Part A – Democracy in Scotland Part B – Democracy in the UK Section 2 – Social Issues in the UK Part C – Social Inequality Part D – Crime and the Law Section 3 – International Issues Part E – World Powers Part F – World Issues

Component 1 – Question paper Content based on revised course specification Combination of knowledge and understanding and source evaluation questions Describe, in detail … Explain, in detail … Conclusions, Decision Making, Support and Oppose

Component 1 – Question paper 80 marks will be divided between the 3 sections of the paper 28/26/26 – rotational basis Knowledge and Understanding = 50 marks Skills = 30 marks Describe, in detail – 4 or 6 marks No change Explain, in detail – 6 or 8 marks

Component 1 – Question paper Allocation of 28/26 marks in a range of ways For example, 26 marks could be made up of one 4 mark describe question and two 6 mark explain questions with one 10 mark source evaluation question There will be an element of choice in the section worth 28 marks to allow for greater course coverage to be examined

Component 1 – Question paper Source evaluation Three source evaluation questions remain Only one source evaluation question per section – all candidates will complete the same three questions All three source evaluation questions now worth 10 marks Conclusions – four bullet point prompts as opposed to three Decision Making – no change Support and Oppose – wording of question changed to omit “Selective in the Use of Facts”

Component 2 – Assignment 20 marks No changes to marks/structure/requirements Three sections B: Research Methods – 10 marks C: Findings – 6 marks D: Conclusions – 4 marks 1 hour for completion under exam conditions Research evidence should be submitted with assignment NB – No marks will be awarded for a generic description of research methods

General guidance Refer to the Course Specification for mandatory content to be examined in the question paper: http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/47448.html Assignment Appropriate Modern Studies topic Candidate research evidence is essential – no more than two sides of A4 Copying from research evidence/plan without any evaluation/analysis will be awarded 0 marks

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