The Research Briefing DUE IN 9.15am FRIDAY 6th NOVEMBER Progress check: w/b 12th October Presentations in lessons w/b 9th Nov – w/e 4th or 11th Dec TBC

Lesson Objective Introduce research briefing, familiarise yourselves with assessment criteria and see examples of different standards of work.

The Research Task… Assess your ability to: 1. Find information from a variety of sources 2. Compare and analyse information obtained 3. Use this material to discuss an issue and draw conclusions 4. Bring together ideas from different parts of the subject in a synoptic (summary of the whole course) way.

Overview Worth 10 of the 30 marks available for this unit. Well worth making  good effort on. Research a topic which involves a range of physics and present this information in a report of between 1000 and 2000 words. Present your topic to the group in a presentation of roughly 5 minutes. You will be questioned afterwards. Your need to compare, analyse and evaluate information and to summarise the main points related to your chosen topic If students worked for the research branch of a large company occasionally you would be required to report to your colleagues about what you have found. This task is designed to model that kind of activity

Key things to consider when choosing topic Does it contain a range of Physics? Can you take information from a variety of sources? Are you interested in it? You should choose a topic that involves plenty of A level standard Physics. NOT GCSE level and not PhD level. Need I say why? Your title should aim to be a question. Your task is then to answer this question. This will give you a focus.

(see the intranet for MANY more) Examples (see the intranet for MANY more)

Researching your topic Variety of sources (not just websites) Possible sources Websites Send letters to companies Books Magazines and journals, e.g. New Scientist Talk to people who work for companies, i.e. interview Videos, e.g. on Youtube, iPlayer Journals Pamphlets Surveys A good range would be about 6 sources.

Writing it up Between 1000 and 2000 words; this is only about half a dozen pages of A4. (Use font size 11 as a rough guide) We suggest the following structure for your report Title page Introduction A number of sections, e.g. based on different areas of Physics involved in the report Analysis/ discussion / conclusions / summary Sources sheet The trickiest thing will be to keep report down to this size, i.e. to be concise and just include the most important and relevant information.

The report

Your references (THIS HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN DONE WELL IN Y12!!) Identify what sources you used to write your report and what information you got from each one. In the body of your report you may show where you got certain chunks of information from by putting the letter in the table above in the margin. This is called referencing. It is a good way of showing exactly where you got your data. Cross Checking There are marks available for evidence that you have checked / verified your information, i.e. is the same information displayed in another source. If there are any contradictions you should note them. You should also try to identify any bias.

A good example

Make sure you know what these are!! They are on the intranet. Strands of Assessment Make sure you know what these are!! They are on the intranet.

THE RULES!!! You must follow the rules below. Failure to do so may result in the deduction of marks or even a refusal to accept your work. Coursework must be handed in by the deadline It is your responsibility to back up your work. Computer failure will not be accepted as an excuse for failure to hand in work. Coursework must be handed in personally to your teacher, not left on a desk.

Let’s look at some examples