Geographical Association

Comments on the students' work

Teacher response to student work was frequent and took varied formats. See the Students' Work page for downloadable examples.

Student planning
Key question: What do we need to ask and know about uneven development?

Teacher Response: This planning activity allowed student to participate in building the curriculum but also helped me to see 'where they were at' before the unit began, to see the language and ideas they were already familiar with.

Photo and map annotation

Teacher Response: This work was marked with merit awards and written comments. It gave insight into the students' early thought processes and allowed for later differentiation and student groupings.

Living map
Key Questions: What disparities exist? Where? What is the evidence for these disparities?

Teacher Response: This was peer assessed and I read and recorded the student feedback with interest as it was informed and useful.

Early written definitions of uneven development

Teacher Response:  Students were asked for their definitions of uneven development throughout the unit. Early responses were marked using a feedback sheet. The same sheet was used for later attempts which could be compared to earlier work and so progress identified.

Authoritative sources activity
Key questions: What disparities exist? Where? What is the evidence for these disparities? Is it accurate to divide the world into rich and poor countries?

Teacher Response: I observed and recorded student views as they discussed the resources. It was particularly useful to ask students to select resources that would be useful to help different audiences in understanding uneven development. Teacher response was oral and students had to justify their views on each source.

Image analysis poster and research
Key question: Is reality like the image?

Teacher Response: The images were diverse and provocative, from a Fendi fashion show on the Great Wall of China, to shopping malls in Cape Town and Addis Ababa, to a possibly non-existent Zimbabwean hotel, to a township in Johannesburg. Students researched the image to see if it was an accurate representation of life in that place. They presented their posters to the class and received immediate teacher and peer oral feedback.

Mind map on causes of uneven development
Key questions: Why does such disparity exist? Is wealth linked to poverty? What role does the physical environment play?

Teacher Response: Here students created a concept map during a 'lecture' type lesson on the causes of uneven development. They were given time to record notes, think and ask questions. Teacher feedback was written and individual. This work is excellent as the student does not always write a lot in lesson tasks. She was rightly proud of this work. The teacher comment was 'Very well done! What a lot of excellent and relevant points. You have linked them very effectively and clearly understand that there are multiple and complex reasons for the uneven development we see. Do you fit into the diagram anywhere?'

Extended writing

Teacher Response: This work was individual and received individual written comment. Students know that ticks are placed where work is good. Merit points were awarded. Written were comments highlighted where this student did well. She covered an impressive range of relevant points. Advice was given about referring to real place more often and students were given the opportunity to respond to advice and discuss their work with others.

Debate and counter-argument

Teacher Response:  Assessment here was mainly through observation of groups at work and timely interjections to influence their discussions. Some written work was built into this discussion and this helped inform assessment. Students were allocated viewpoints and were challenged to summarise their key arguments. Students had to write their personal opinion bubble at the end as and this was marked with a personal response comment rather than a grade.

Later definitions of uneven development

Teacher Response: This summative work helped me to assess overall progress in understanding and see how students could link the ideas and places they had learned about. I could also to focus on their particular understanding of uneven development. I feel they made significant progress from viewing uneven development as describing a simple global split of rich and poor changed by charity and aid only, to viewing uneven development as a process of change occurring on many scales as a result of many interlinked factors that they were a part of.