1. How to Pass General Studies An Idiots’ guide (for idiots)

2. What are the Modules? Year 12 1 Aspects of Culture 2 Scientific Horizons 3 Social perspectives Year 13 4 Cultural Expressions 5 Modern Society 6 The Contemporary World

3. What do I need to do? Think! A Know a few key facts B read a passage and identify the stages of the argument and forms of knowledge used. Make a conclusion C Write an Essay to compare views drawn from 2(3) forms of Knowledge

4. How can I prepare? Read several past papers. Realise that the questions are very similar each year. Identify the patterns Choose an essay area you know something about and note a few concrete examples you could use

5. Forms of Knowledge Mathematical Scientific Ethical and Moral Aesthetic Sociological Economic Political There are others They differ in their particular language and concepts but especially in their “tests of truth” In some situations you have to decide which one is more important

6. Types of Knowledge Objective Subjective Authority Anecdotal Empirical Can be independently verified Known or felt personally Taken from an acknowleged expert source Based on someone’s reported experience Based on experiment

7. Arguments and Reasoning This is at the heart of General Studies Key words are Deductive, Inductive, premise, conclusion,justified You must say to what extent something is justified You must give examples of objective and subjective knowledge in part B and in your Essay

8. Details Unit 3 and 5 require calculators Marks are available for the usual chart and graph drawing skills e.g. labels, titles, scales Unit 6 is synoptic, has 2 essays (from 4). Sci/Soc, Sci/Cult, Cult/Soc, Sci/Cult/Soc Essays must be essay style. No bullets, sub-headings or underlinings