Co-teaching guide: podcast
These podcast teaching guides cover topics from our AS and A-level Psychology specifications. You can download them below.
Podcast 1: Co-teaching AS and A-level Psychology
In this podcast we’ll talk you through the assessment differences at AS and A-level and how you can use this to support co-teaching during your first year. Well also answer some of your frequently asked questions about co-teaching.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to AQA’s psychology podcast aimed at supporting your teaching of our new AS and A-Level specifications. In this podcast we’ll focus on the assessment differences at AS and A-level and how you can use this to shape co-teaching and learning during the first year. We’ll also answer some of the popular questions that we’ve received about co-teaching. Many teachers have told us that they will be co-teaching AS and A-level students and a significant number of schools and colleges have indicated that they will be entering both AS and A-level students for the AS exams at the end of the first year.
When considering the issues surrounding teaching both AS and A-level students in the same class it’s important to put the task into perspective. If you’ve taught our legacy specifications, Psychology A or B, you’ll have been developing students’ skills to AS standard by the end of the first year and moved them on to A-level standard in the second year. This will have been achieved through a process of nurturing and setting progressively more demanding targets in relation to the skills assessed in the A-level exam.
Given that there is no extra content at A-level for the common topics also studied at AS and that the assessment objectives are the same, the difference is in the demands of the assessment and this is where you should focus your attention.
So preparing to co-teach means we need to consider how the assessment will distinguish between AS and A-level performance, and how this can be used to shape co-teaching and learning during the first year.
First of all, let’s take a look at how the common topics studied at AS and A-level are assessed differently. The differences will be by a combination of:
- the weighting of the assessment objectives
- the contribution of extended writing
- the complexity of the exam questions
- the demands of the mark schemes.
So let’s focus on each of these in turn. At AS the assessment is weighted towards knowledge and understanding (AO1) and using that knowledge and understanding in both a theoretical and practical context (AO2). There is assessment of analytical and evaluative skills (AO3) but this contributes less to the overall grade than at A-level. So, at A-level there are proportionately fewer marks for knowledge and understanding, almost the same weighting for application skills and proportionately more marks for analysis, evaluation and associated critical thinking skills such as interpretation, making judgements and drawing conclusions. This is illustrated clearly in the extended writing.
At AS the maximum mark for an essay is 12 (this is broken down into six marks for knowledge and understanding and six marks for evaluation and possibly some application). At A-level the maximum mark for an essay is 16 (as in the AS there are six marks for knowledge and understanding but 10 marks for evaluation and possibly some application). Students at A-level will need to demonstrate a better range of effective analytic and evaluative skills based on their extended knowledge and understanding of the research methods, approaches, issues and debates as outlined in the A-level specification.
Let’s now look at how the complexity of the exam tasks might be different for AS and A-level. The difference may lie in the content being assessed. Within each common topic, memory, attachment, psychopathology, social influence, approaches, biopsychology and research methods, the specifications include some basic, relatively concrete material and concepts, and other more abstract, complex concepts and theories that require deeper learning. In selecting questions for the A-level papers there is likely to be a higher proportion of items testing knowledge and understanding of more complex material, whilst at AS level there will be more questions that require understanding of simpler concepts. There will always be overlap as both the AS and the A-level must sample the specification’s content and must allow the less able to show what they can do, at the same time as stretching the most able.
Let’s concentrate now on how the complexity of actual tasks might be varied. Stem or scenario material at A-level will require consideration of more elements and students will use their knowledge and understanding to select the most relevant material to construct their response. Whereas, at AS level the stem may be structured to support the student more by including a more limited range of cues that focus on the required knowledge or understanding.
Multiple choice questions at A-level are likely to involve alternatives that represent finer distinctions, or require a more thorough understanding of concepts, theories, processes, or they may focus on the understanding of more abstract concepts.
The task requirements are likely to be more explicit at AS and tasks may be broken down into steps thereby scaffolding the AS student, whereas at A-level the task may be quite open-ended and the student may have to take responsibility for structuring his or her response and developing coherent lines of argument.
It’s worth noting that at both AS and A-level, application skills are weighted more than in our previous psychology specifications A and B, mainly because application skills can provide very effective assessment of understanding. So, at both AS and A-level there will be a greater focus on application skills. At A-level students will not only have to work with more complex scenarios they’ll need to use their more precise understanding of concepts, theories, research evidence, methods and ethics in a wide range of different contexts. At A-level there is an expectation that students will be more familiar with subject specific terminology so not only will questions draw upon this vocabulary, students will be expected to demonstrate it effectively in their own writing.
Let’s now consider how you can nurture the skills needed by both AS and A-level students in the same class. Just think for a minute about the relevance of psychology to the task – Blooms taxonmy, Constructivism, Vygotsky and ZPD, reinforcement, metacognition, self-efficacy and attributions for success and failure for example.
In essence, the difference between AS and A-level is a matter of degree and depends on the level of understanding and skills, not on learning additional topic content. This means having resources, tasks, support systems and using feedback that takes into account students’ needs in a co-taught class. We need to employ learning materials and teaching tools that make differentiation easier so that your most able students and your weakest students can maximise their achievement.
There are a number of ways to differentiate; it can be done through resources. Look carefully at the complexity of the materials you recommend or require students to use. Textbooks, online materials and your in-house study booklets vary in style, vocabulary, layout and elaboration. Take a look at our carousel activity on the biological approach in week 19 of our psychology scheme of work (Year 1) available at aqa.org.uk/psychology-resources. When students undertake a research activity such as this, provide a range of materials at each hub and encourage students to access materials that are going to stretch but not undermine their confidence. You might include a traffic light system that indicates the level of the materials to help students select appropriate sources. In the scheme of work, extension resources suited to more able A-level students are identified.
Alternatively you can differentiate by task, using different levels of challenge to support your students’ needs. For example in week 21 of our scheme of work three levels are identified. These are:
- write a short passage that outlines what is meant by “cognitive neuroscience”, or
- outline three examples of applications of cognitive neuroscience in everyday life, or
- as an extension activity – briefly discuss “neuroethics” or neuroscience and free will.
Throughout the scheme of work there are examples of open ended extension activities designed to engage as well as stretch A-level students. For example, in week 10 of the scheme of work an idea for an extension activity is to set your students the question of: ‘what status should memory have in the criminal justice system?’
Most teachers differentiate with the level of support they offer. Think about how far the learning tasks and activities you set for students include scaffolding, maybe in the form of writing frames, structured questions and lists of criteria to use to evaluate. As students develop, simple support structures can be extended to encourage more sophisticated analysis and lines of argument. In mixed ability classes, peer tutoring and group work based on Aronson’s jigsaw classroom can support differentiation.
Differentiation by feedback is probably the most important, as it ensures a student understands what an effective response is and how to improve their work. It’s really important that your feedback clarifies why the student’s response is effective or needs work and what he or she needs to do to improve and address any weaknesses.
Underpinning effective differentiation is an awareness of your students’ current knowledge and skills so that you can judge the suitability of tasks for them and engage and stretch each individual whether their target is AS or A-level. It’s also important for students themselves to understand the range of skills that they need to develop. Early in the first year it might be helpful to make a list of all the skills needed and ensure that students understand what these entail. It’s surprising how many students don’t know what ‘evaluate’ or ‘explain how’ require them to do. You might find our list of command words for exam questions helpful in identifying some of the skills. These are available online.
After students have completed a range of tasks and activities rate each student on each of the skills. Also get students to rate themselves on each skill. This can assist you and the student in selecting appropriately challenging materials and tasks and will help you to target feedback.
Now let’s consider teaching and learning methods that support differentiation and co-teaching.
The wider the range of skill levels in your class the more important it is to plan student centred learning into your programme as this enables students to work at their own pace and frees you to spend time providing individualised support and feedback, thereby facilitating differentiation. A class in which there is a wide range of skills and abilities lends itself to group work and peer tutoring.
In our schemes of work, in addition to a range of tasks involving group work, peer tutoring, problem based learning and enquiry based learning, you might note references to ‘flipped classroom’. There is a link to a tutorial on organising a flipped classroom in the introduction to the scheme of work. It’s not suggested that this is the best route for all classes but, if you can provide appropriate resources to deliver some of the basic knowledge through homework or independent study periods, then it frees up class time for developing understanding through Q&A, discussion and interactive learning activities. These enhance understanding and ownership of knowledge so students feel more confident to apply and evaluate their knowledge.
When selecting material for flipping it’s probably wise to maintain a more direct approach to teaching what might be called ‘threshold concepts’ – ones that open up a new way of thinking about something and transform understanding or interpretation, and allow the learner to progress.
If only some students will sit the AS exam it’s useful towards the end of the course to encourage them to work together so that they can focus on the specific AS requirements and exam question styles.
Now we’re going to answer some of the popular questions that we receive about co-teaching:
Firstly: How do you train some students in the class to do 12 mark essays and others to do 16 mark essays?
We’ve said that the maximum mark for any extended writing at AS is 12 marks, six AO1 and six AO2 or 3, and on A-level papers it’s 16 marks, six AO1 and 10 AO2 or 3. We’re not asking for more AO1 at A-level but we do require evidence of some synoptic skills and better developed higher order skills such as analysis and evaluation.
During the second year of the A-level course we expect students’ analytic and evaluative skills to develop as they become underpinned by a more thorough understanding of research methods, approaches in psychology and development of an understanding of issues, debates and their implications.
So in teaching AS and A-level together one of the best approaches is to encourage the development of evaluative skills from the outset. Perhaps by initially using a relatively simple set of evaluative criteria that include consideration of research evidence to support and/or challenge theories and methodological strengths and limitations of research studies. Also encourage students to be flexible so they can respond to questions with different mark values and set tasks.
Try getting AS students to write two different versions of an essay with the same title, one for eight marks and one for 12 marks. Ask them to reflect on what they have included in both, what extra material they’ve included in the 12 mark essay and most importantly their reason for including or excluding material. Those doing A-level could do an eight mark and a 16 mark essay.
As you’ve probably realised if you’ve taught psychology before, students’ evaluative skills develop quite slowly at first but development accelerates in the second year. So, in terms of class teaching, the basic principles of differentiation should enable effective teaching of AS and A-level. What would be more problematic is if you try to teach the skills as knowledge – by providing an explicit set of evaluative points that students need to memorise for each theory. This would make the teaching tricky. It might, if you are lucky, help some weaker students to earn marks in the exam but it would limit the more able students and more importantly fail to prepare students for the much less predictable questions that will be used to assess the specifications.
Another frequently asked question is: Do we have to re-teach the AS level material and topics but in more detail and with more evaluation in the second year of the A-level?
As the number of AO1 marks is the same for both AS and A-level the answer is no. In relation to the greater AO3 demand of the A-level, this is a skill rather than a learned material and what is needed is plenty of practice in using higher order skills with a range of topics. So through the second year we would hope that each successive topic will allow the student to hone and develop their skills but you will need to revisit the AS topics to give students the opportunity to apply their better developed skills to those topics studied in the first year. You might also need to revisit topics studied at the start of the second year for the same reason.
Revisiting earlier topics is going to be necessary whether you teach a two year A-level only class or co-teach AS and A-level in the first year, because the skills are going to develop gradually. Whatever topic you focus on at the start of a course it will be studied at a less sophisticated level than topics covered at the end of the course.
And lastly: How do you manage exam preparation when some are aiming for AS and others A-level?
It’s useful to note that in preparing students for AS or A-level they’ll be learning to write for approximately 30 minutes on each topic area studied, and there will be 24 marks of assessment for each topic.
If your A-level students are taking the AS exams at the end of year one, there should be no real problem with focusing on AS exam questions. If they aren’t, you might wish to set the A-level students some more demanding short answer questions and some 16 mark essays. But remember, during the co-taught first year students are unlikely to have the understanding of issues, debates, approaches and research methods that will allow them to build 10 marks worth of evaluation.
The other thing to remember during the second year is to include some skills based review of the AS topics so students can practice applying more sophisticated evaluation to theories and studies from these topics.
Thank you for listening to this installment of AQA’s series of psychology podcasts. We hope that this has effectively introduced co-teaching AS and A-level students to you. If you have any questions feel free to contact us by phone on 01483 477 822 or email us at psychology@aqa.org.uk. Thank you and goodbye.