Progression in fieldwork skills and their assessment at A2

Unit 4A

Summary features of Geo 4A• The paper - 60 marks in 90 minutes; a mark per 1.5 minutes• Question 1 40 marks - generic fieldwork questions;

candidates’ own experience of fieldwork• Question 2 20 marks - Geographical Skills taken from p16 of the specification examined through ‘vehicle’ of any topic ________________________________________________________

• Note 1 10 marks examine Assessment Objective (AO1); applying skills to topics.

• Note 2 Centres and candidates are strongly advised against expecting questions to be repeated in a formulaic way.

• Maximum of 3 Levels

AS/A2 SkillsInvestigative SkillsTo include:• identification of aims, geographical questions and issues and effective

approaches to enquiry• identification, selection and collection of quantitative and qualitative

evidence, including the use of appropriate sampling techniques, from primary sources (including fieldwork) and secondary sources

• processing, presentation, analysis and interpretation of evidence• drawing conclusions and showing an awareness of the validity of

conclusions• Evaluation, including further research opportunities• risk assessment and identification of strategies for minimising health and

safety risks in undertaking fieldwork.

Level 1: attempts the question to some extent (basic)

An answer at this level is likely to:• display a basic understanding of the topic• make one or two points without support of appropriate exemplification or

application of principle• give a basic list of characteristics, reasons and attitudes• provide a basic account of a case study, or provide no case study evidence• give a response to one command of a question where two (or more) commands

are stated eg “describe and suggest reasons”• demonstrate a simplistic style of writing perhaps lacking close relation to the

terms of the question and unlikely to communicate complexity of subject matter• lack organisation, relevance and specialist vocabulary• demonstrate deficiencies in legibility, spelling, grammar and punctuation which

detract from the clarity of meaning.

Level 2: answers the question (well/clearly)

An answer at this level is likely to:• display a clear understanding of the topic• make one or two points with support of appropriate exemplification and/or

application of principle• give a number of characteristics, reasons, attitudes (“ie. more than one”) • provide clear use of case studies• give responses to more than one command eg “describe and explain..”• demonstrate a style of writing which matches the requirements of the question

and acknowledges the potential complexity of the subject matter• demonstrate relevance and coherence with appropriate use of specialist

vocabulary• demonstrate legibility of text, and qualities of spelling, grammar and punctuation

which do not detract from the clarity of meaning.

Level 3: answers the question very well (detailed) – 4A

An answer at this level is likely to:• display a detailed understanding of the topic• make several points with support of appropriate exemplification and/or application of

principle• give a wide range of characteristics, reasons, attitudes • provide detailed accounts of a range of case studies• respond well to more than one command• demonstrate evidence of discussion, evaluation, assessment and synthesis depending on the

requirements of the assessment• demonstrate a sophisticated style of writing incorporating measured and qualified

explanation and comment as required by the question and reflecting awareness of the complexity of subject matter and incompleteness/ tentativeness of explanation

• demonstrate a clear sense of purpose so that the responses are seen to closely relate to the requirements of the question with confident use of specialist vocabulary

• demonstrate legibility of text, and qualities of spelling, grammar and punctuation which contribute to complete clarity of meaning.

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The Fieldwork Question in 4A

So, what makes Unit 4A different?Unit 4A is a more challenging examination than the AS equivalent in Unit 2.

The questions have to demonstrate elements of both ‘synopticity’ and ‘stretch and challenge’. Essentially, the differences between the two examinations can be summarised as:

• Unit 2 – assesses what I did on my fieldwork

• Unit 4A – assesses why I did what I did on my fieldwork

Hence, all questions in Unit 4A will be evaluative.

Evaluative.....how? (1)Extract from the Spec.

Appropriate and manageable methods should be used to collect relevant data. The data should permit the use of appropriate cartographical, graphical and statistical skills to enable a full interpretation to be made, which should include reference to the aim. The conclusion should include a summary of the results, the relevance of these to the aim and an evaluation of the overall investigation.

Questions?

• In relation to a geographical theory or concept, why did you select this aim?

• Why was your location appropriate to investigate this aim?

• Explain how the location of your fieldwork was relevant to the theory/concept/issue being investigated.

Evaluative.....how? (2)Extracts from the Spec:

• show an awareness of the suitability of the data collected and the methods used

• be aware of the alternatives and evaluate methodology

• be familiar with alternative methods of data presentation/processing

• draw conclusion(s) relating to the specific enquiry, understand their validity, limitations and implications for the study

Questions? (Collection)

• Justify the H&S measures you undertook.• Why was the data collection method the

best/most appropriate?• How did you ensure accuracy?• After having done it, how effective was that

method?• How could you have improved it?

Questions? (Presentation)

• Why did you use the technique(s) you used – did it(they) work?

• What were the alternatives? Why did you reject them?

Questions? (Analysis)

• Justify the data analysis technique that you used. What were the alternatives, and why did you reject them?

• How did you make sure that the data analysis technique matched the data collected?

Evaluative.....how? (3)Extracts from the Spec:

Unit 4A will be assessed in a 1½ hour examination..... The examination will test candidates’ knowledge and understanding of the subject matter relating to their investigation and its links with other aspects of geography; their critical approach to the methodology, approaches and techniques associated with data gathering, presentation and analysis; of the findings of the investigation and its contribution to furthering candidates’ geographical understanding and that of the role of fieldwork inquiry in geographical study.

Critical approach?

• How useful were the results of the enquiry – to you, to other geographers, to non-geographers?

• Was your enquiry successful? How do you know?

• How could you/others improve it?• How could it be developed/extended?

Section B

• 20 marks

• Detailed knowledge and understanding of any technique – AS and A2

• Suitability?

• Purpose and usefulness?

Collection techniques

• Sampling?

• Qualitative and quantitative

• Primary and secondary: data and sources

Presentation techniquesMaps

• sketch maps• maps with located

proportional symbols – squares, circles, semi-circles, bars

• flow lines, desire lines and trip lines

• detailed town centre plans• choropleth, isoline and dot

maps.

Graphs• line graphs – simple,

comparative, compound and divergent

• bar graphs – simple, comparative, compound and divergent

• scatter graphs – and use of best fit line

• pie charts and proportional divided circles

• triangular graphs• kite and radial diagrams• logarithmic scales• dispersion diagrams.• ICT Skills

Analysis techniquesThis usually refers to statistical analysis. These could include:

• measures of central tendency – mean, mode, median• measures of dispersion – interquartile range and standard

deviation• Spearman’s rank correlation test • application of significance level in inferential statistical results

• Chi –squared tests• Mann Whitney U test