Geographical Association

Information on coursework to be undertaken as part of the Pilot GCSE will be provided via this page. Watch this space!

During a recent OCR Pilot GCSE Teachers’ discussion day colleagues requested for examples of pupils coursework to be made available via these pages. The coursework exemplified here is intended to stimulate discussion and creativity. It is offered as one centre’s interpretation of the specification and coursework requirements. We intend to add work from other centres in due course. Please contact Phil Wood if you are willing to share your pupils’ work.

Before you view the pupils’ portfolios, read the coursework moderator’s full report. It highlights features of successful coursework creation and moderation. As the moderator states:

‘The specification encourages a range of presentation formats, including presentations, poems, posters, video, oral reflective journals, thinking skill tasks, fieldwork data collection sheets, research tasks, group work reports, extended writing, cartoons … As staff become more familiar and confident with the new specification it is likely that a more comprehensive range of approaches will be seen between and indeed within centres.’

Please contact the coursework consultant for advice and guidance about the suitability of a specific piece of coursework or advice on your mark scheme.

Candidates are required to complete three pieces of internally-assessed work, at least one of which must involve primary data collection (see section 4.5 of the specification).

Each piece of work should relate to one of the three themes (My Place, Extreme Environments and People as Consumers). The Teachers Resource Guide provides ideas on how to interpret these themes. Coursework may be submitted in a variety of formats suitable to the task. Written submissions should not exceed 1500 words. Work will be internally assessed and externally moderated by OCR.

The Centre set the following coursework activities. These formed part of the teaching and learning programme for the specification. This approach illustrates how coursework arises naturally during learning activities:

• My Place – Living in the UK Today coursework
  
• Extreme Environments coursework
  
• People as Consumers coursework

Pupils given a choice from two tasks:

• Pupils’ own personal evaluation of their area, which may be prose/poem/music/model/poster/ photo gallery.
  
• Essay or report ‘Describe the changes that you would like to see in your local area. Justify your decisions and explain who may benefit as a result’.

Focus here is on Svalbard:

• Written report explaining what the area is like and why?
  
• Environmental protection on Svalbard. Pupils to design poster, plan leaflet, or write poem, song, rap or article, etc., explaining why this area should be saved.

The first part of your coursework must include primary data collection. This means that you must count or measure something, or ask people questions. Without this element, your coursework cannot gain anywhere near maximum marks.

As part of the work you are doing on Fair Trade, you are each to conduct a questionnaire asking people:

• what they know about Fair Trade
  
• whether they buy Fair Trade products
  
• whether they would buy Fair Trade products if they knew more about them.

1. Write an analysis of how Fair Trade is perceived in your area.
   
2. Suggest how you would organise a campaign to educate people about the importance of Fair Trade.

The following are offered as examples of work produced by pupils during the first year of teaching the specification (2003-04). They are 'typical' (rather than definitive) examples of work at a range of grades. These pieces will support the professional development of colleagues involved with teaching the pilot specification.

• Work typical of a pupil working around grade A
  
• Work typical of a pupil working around grade B
  
• Work typical of a pupil working around the C/D grade border
  
• Work typical of a pupil working around the D/E grade border
  
• Work typical of a pupil working around grade E
  
• Work typical of a pupil working around grade G