Unit Specifications and Unit Assessment Support Packs

Unit Assessment  Assessments can be designed to provide evidence across more than one Unit or Outcome = combined assessments  Greater range of techniques and methodologies for assessment – encouraged through Unit assessment support packages  Opportunities to gather naturally occurring evidence – assessment as part of learning and teaching

Unit Structure National 5  Research  Individual Behaviour  Social Behaviour

Added Value Each Course at National 5 includes assessment of Added Value For us the added value is in the Course Assessment - graded A - D (as at present)

DocumentationDocumentation Arrangements Document Current Qualification Includes: Course Structure Rationale and Aims Course Content Course and Unit Assessment Grade Descriptions Estimates and Appeals Approaches to Learning and Teaching Additional Support Needs Unit Specifications Course Specification Unit Specification Course Assessment Specification Course and Unit Support Notes New CfE Qualification Unit Assessment Support Packages 1, 2 & 3 Specimen Question Paper & Specimen Coursework MANDATORY ADVICE, GUIDANCE & SUPPORT

Overview: Overview: Question Paper 50 marks 1 hour 30 minutes All questions mandatory – no options 3 questions – each 15 or 20 marks questions divided into parts – each with between 1 and 6 marks May use stimuli or scenarios Marking will draw on Intermediate 2 approach

Assignment 30 marks  Set and marked by SQA Conducted under supervision in centres Completing a research log book:  provide information about a research topic  describe the stages to be followed in the research process in order to conduct a psychological study of the topic.

Unit Assessment Support Packages – purpose Assessment support packages will be provided which can be used to: Assess candidates Adapt for teachers’/lecturers’ own assessment programmes Help teachers/lecturers develop own assessments

Remember The Unit Assessment Support Packs have been quality assured, so won’t need Prior Verification. They are set at the national standard Ready to use or make minor adaptations

UASPs – key features  Valid from August 2013  Designed to encourage professional judgement  Provide broad-based tasks – allow assessors to choose appropriate context and forms of evidence  Show range of approaches to generating assessment evidence  Give information on the type of evidence which could be gathered and how this is to be judged against Assessment Standards

Key points: Psychology Units  Standards remain the same (SCQF level)  Feature the best approaches of the current Psych Units  Have a hierarchical Unit structure that provide progression from National 5 to Higher  Sleep & Dreams now mandatory  Conformity mandatory

Unit Assessment Support Packages - approaches Package 1 Unit by Unit approach – discrete assessment tasks for each Unit Package 2 Portfolio approach – naturally occurring evidence Package 3 Combined approach – groups Outcomes and Assessment Standards from different Units

Quality Assurance  Some of you will have been involved in developing these UASPs  It’s important to let your colleagues know about the thorough quality assurance processes they’ve been through before being published.

UNIT: INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR  Outcome 1  The learner will:  1 Explain topics relating to individual behaviour by: –1.1 Describing a topic relevant to individual behaviour –1.2 Explaining the behaviour using psychological approaches and theories –1.3 Explaining the strengths and weaknesses of the psychological approaches and theories used to explain the behaviour

4 column approach to judging evidence

Moving on  Workshop 1 and 2 will give you the opportunity to look at the Unit Specifications and Unit Assessment Support Packages in detail.