1. 2009 Psychology Exam
Post Mortem
Assessment Components 1 & 2
Collaborative and Individual
Investigations
January Summer School
2010 Geoff Slater

2. General Information
• Approx 2/3 had no marks changed
– Teachers providing accurate guidance
• Approx 1/3 had some marks changed
– Most lowered due to overgenerous marking in A and B bands
– A few raised due to overzealous marking in C band or below
• Both quantitative and qualitative reports evident
• Interpretation and evaluation still main area of difficult for
students
2

3. General Information
Interpretation  Describe and interpret patterns in data
as it relates to the quality of the data
 Discuss sample size
 Discuss representativeness of the
sample
Evaluation  Discuss validity of results
 Discuss reliability of results
 Identify strengths and weaknesses
 Research Ethics
3

4. Teachers should be aware of ……
• Base question on simple research question/hypothesis
– Relevant to class data
– Avoid multiple hypotheses, complex questions
• Avoid combing quantitative and qualitative data
– Proposal covers only a subsection of the data
– Teacher feedback essential early in process
• Don’t use self made marks schemes
– Usually leads to a downward shift in moderation
• Adhere to 1500 word limit
– Manage this during drafting stages
4

5. Students should be aware of ……
• Information searches and reporting unnecessary
– Extensive book and internet searhes undesirable
• Do not include lengthy and detailed descriptions of
methods used
– These are already given to you
• Avoid producing multiple statistics/graphs of irrelevant
data
– Does not result in higher marks
– Must be appropriate to research question/proposal
• Graphing raw scores is not a considered as analysis of
data
5

6. Students should be aware of ……
• Qualitative analysis
– Summary table only include a few responses to illustrate themes
– Look for a limited number of themes
– Long lists of themes indicate a lack of understanding of the
process of content analysis
– Generally should focus on only one of the focus group questions
• Describing data vs Interpreting data
– Describing- tabular, graphical forms with a comment (Group A
mean is significantly greater than Group B mean
– Interpreting – provide meaning and context to data
• Must explain clearly how ethics, strengths etc..affected the
outcome of their own particular investigation
– Relate discussions to own research program 6

7. It is advised that……
• Proposals are attached to investigations,
• Teachers read and refer to the support materials
pertaining to collaborative and individual investigations,
• Teachers use the “mark scheme” and “student record
for supervision and verification” available in LAM
• Teachers join the “online community” for psychology,
• New teachers seek clarification and advice early
– Curriculum Officer
– Experienced teachers
7

8. Moderation 2010
Great PD opportunity
Get to know-understand
processes more clearly
Will help you and your
students