Additional Applied Science Rationale, Assessment and Resources

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Additional Applied ScienceRationale, Assessment
and Resources
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Some figures

• Bottom 40 of UK workplace earn less than 2/3 of
  the pay of German counterparts
• Why? Lower percentage in education post-16
• National Commission on Education Follow-up Group
  (Dec 2003)

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Applied Science courses

• Motivate potential school leavers
• success at all levels
• meaningful hands-on experiences
• assessment larger coursework
• real employment prospects

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Work-related learning

• A statutory requirement at KS4
• rationale
• The student a broad and balanced education
  part of fully preparing for an adult life
• The economy the countrys economic well-being
• learning
• through work
• about work
• for work
• audited

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Applied Science courses

• Major challenges
• authenticity, as employment patterns
  change
• perceptions of students, parents, teachers
  and employers

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C21 Additional Applied Science

• Aim
• To meet the needs of students who wish to
  develop their scientific understanding through
  authentic, work-related contexts.

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1993 study - CSTI

• Occupational group number (000s) Category
• Nurses midwives 467 critical
• Agriculture/horticulture/forestry/fisheries 329
  enhanced/significant
• Engineers (all types) 311
  critical
• Chem/gas/petroleum process operatives 161
  enhanced
• Medical doctors dentists 156
  critical
• Lab science technicians 130 main
• Medically related occupations 128
  main/critical
• Food processing operatives 113
  enhanced
• Secondary school science teachers 106
  significant
• Product, works and maintenance managers 86
  significant
• Marketing sales managers 73
  significant
• University/HE/FE teaching professionals 64
  main
• Engineering technicians 60
  critical
• Biological scientists and biochemists 49
  main
• Chemists 39 main
• Physicists, geologists, meteorologists etc 28
  main

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Additional Applied Science

• Choose any 3 modules from
• Life care
• Agriculture and food
• Scientific detection
• Harnessing chemicals
• Communications
• Materials and performance

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Key features of the course

• 1 Cluster of related workplace contexts
• 2 Authentic procedures and techniques
• 3 Underpinning science knowledge
• 4 Employers, regulators, social values
• 5 Problem-solving - applying knowledge

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Key features of the course

• 1 Cluster of related contexts in which people
  apply science in their work - but with freedom to
  adapt to local circumstances
• assessment Work-related report
• 2 Authentic procedures and techniques where the
  results matter - adapted as necessary for school
  labs
• assessment Standard procedures

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Key features of the course

• 3 Underpinning knowledge - with a degree of
  coherence and including some big ideas of
  potential value for progression
• assessment Module Test
• 4 Framework within which people apply science
  (organisations, employers, regulators, social
  values)
• assessment Work related report, Module Test
• 5 Applying knowledge and techniques to solve a
  practical problem
• assessment Suitability test

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Internally assessed skills

• Authentic and manageable Work-related Portfolio
• Six standard procedures (2 per module) - 12
• One suitability test - 21
• One work-related report - 17
• Additional Applied modules have been developed to
  take 36 hours, leaving time for skills assessment
• Teachers arrange coursework differently to suit
  their curriculum and students

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Module structure
Example Ap2 Agriculture and food
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Scheme of work (each module)

• 35 hours of guided classroom activities 10 hours
  for skills assessment FLEXIBILITY
• through work science-related work experience
  placements
• about work practitioner focus, visits from to
  local workplaces
• for work work-related portfolio, underpinning
  knowledge

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Video sequences for the course

• Locations
• A1 Human performance lab, Middlesex Uni
• Diagnosis and treatment from GP to hospital
• A2 Longley farm - from cow to yoghurt
• A3 National Gallery examining paint
• Food standards officer, Haringey
• Environmental Agency monitoring a stream
• Cape Farewell gathering data about life in the
  Arctic seas
• A4 Manufacturing agrochemicals
• A5 Ferraris Respiratory testing baby monitors
• A6 Rolls Royce testing turbine blades
• National Physical Laboratory measuring
  temperature

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Student books

• Referenced from the scheme of work
• Case studies
• People and organisations
• The science
• Procedures and techniques
• Coursework overview
• Glossary and index

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Progression routes

• AS/A Applied Science
• BTEC Nationals in Science
• Other vocational courses and vocationally-related
  qualifications
• AS/A courses in Biology, Chemistry or Physics
  (top students, with suitable choice of modules)

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Challenges for technicians

• volume of practical work
• ordering new apparatus and consumables
• storage
• providing for varied tasks in the classroom
  e.g. Suitability tests
• maintenance of frequently-used kit

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Challenges for teachers

• Addressing perceptions of students parents
• Capitalising on the freedom,
  not letting it be a burden
• Meeting the diverse demands
  for equipment, materials and ICT
• Making connections with the working world of
  science
• Managing the assessment
• Offering progression to post-16 courses

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What do teachers say?

• Pupils enjoy the
• practical work involved

• It is a genuine pleasure to be working with
  pupils in these lessons

• The grades that students achieve are typically
  one grade higher than we might expect from
  previous science courses

Attitudes, motivation and achievement in science
improve during the applied course
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Websites

• General information www.21stcenturyscience.org
• Publications from OUP www.twentyfirstcenturyscien
  ce.org
• Specifications, assessment and training
  www.ocr.org.uk