Tag: A level

Warning: Philosophy Exam Approaching!! (2018)

On By Aimee HorsleyIn Exam Preparation, Philosophy New Spec1 Comment

The questions you will not be asked tomorrow are:

May 2017 First Year Paper:

untitled.png

May 2018 First Year Paper:

IMG_4525

This means that:

  • Soul, Mind, Body
  • Cosmo
  • PoE
  • RE
  • Aristotle
  • Onto

Have all been asked. All that is missing is:

  • Plato
  • Teleo

You could still get asked a question from any topic area, including areas already been asked above. The only thing we can be pretty certain of is that similar Q’s will not arise.

So last minute advice:

  1. Check out BBC for moral evil examples and recent events/ stats with the volcano eruption (natural evil)
  2. If you get a question on ‘Religious Language is meaningless’ do NOT talk about Falsification. The exam board has made it very clear that Flew never uses the word meaningless (only ‘vacuous’ yet in my book they pretty much imply the same thing) but still we follow the exam board!! I recommend Verification vs Language Games for a Q like this.
  3. Any RE question mention WJ’s four even just in passing
  4. Avoid numinous as an example, unless the question asks or if you have a specific case to draw upon, otherwise your answers will just be vague.
  5. Make sure you read questions carefully: psychology vs physiology could cost you dearly!
  6. If a comparison Q is asked e.g Plato vs Ari make sure you compare in every paragraph using language like: whereas, both, differing, similarly etc
  7. Whatever is mentioned specifically in Q, that is the start of every paragraph. So if mentioned ‘a priori is better than a post’ structure with Onto throughout.
  8. If Q on God’s attributes, focus on Q throughout, do not get side-lined on long rambling content.

Make sure you read: Panic “My Exam is Tomorrow!” Must Read for Philosophy (1st and 2nd Year).

Finally the more links to specific wording in the question and the more you argue, argue, argue, the better you will do! Get off the fence, raise discussion points, pass judgements and criticisms, defend arguments and evaluate everything. Control your content and need to regurgitate information, it is not how much you write/ remember it is what you do with it!

Good Luck

I will be thinking about you all tomorrow. First A Level exam for new spec – let’s make it a good one!!

 

Panic My Exam is Tomorrow! Must Read for Ethics 2018 (First and Second Year)

On By Aimee HorsleyIn Ethics New Spec, Exam PreparationLeave a comment

08e2657614ca71a5004366998fa92b2aRound Two…Ethics.

Students often find Ethics a bit easier to get their heads around than Philosophy, maybe because it links more with everyday life or because there is just less of it. Either way when it comes to the exam you need to be sharp with your structure, keep your application answers under control and suppress your need to write like a GCSE student (especially when it comes to euthanasia …your body is God’s temple snore!!)

So this blog is structured to support with: the style of ethics questions, structure of essays, tips per topic, application discussion themes, final tips and top three mistakes.

Question Style:

Ethics questions roughly follow four styles:

  1. Specific topic – application open (Natural Law is useful when dealing with moral decisions)
  2. Specific topic with specific application (Kantian ethics is helpful when dealing with issues surrounding business ethics)
  3. Specific topic alone (There are no strengths with the Natural Law theory)
  4. Application (The religious concept of sanctity of life is outdated)

Don’t forget:

  1. Natural Law and Situation Ethics go together with Euthanasia
  2. Kantian Ethics and Utilitarianism go together with Business
  3. All four go with Sex Ethics (2nd year)

This means if the question is worded like Q1 (above) you need to know which ethical issues to link to the topic in the question. For example Kant is only applied to business not euthanasia.

If the question implies that a certain topic is the ‘ best approach’ you might want to compare it with the other topic from that section. So “Utilitarianism is the best approach to business ethics” you might wish to compare to Kant (see: “Utilitarianism is more useful than Kantian Ethics when dealing with ethical dilemmas” Discuss: Student’s Work to help.)

Structure of essays:

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Predictions for Ethics 2018 (First and Second Year)

On By Aimee HorsleyIn Ethics New Spec, Exam PreparationLeave a comment

There is one look I am very familiar with on the approach to the exams: the panicked eyes of students that just Screen Shot 2016-04-02 at 20.46.38.pngwant to know “what do you think the questions will be in the exam?” What I want to say is “How do I know???”…however to ease your panic there are a few ways to prepare yourself for the exam (don’t forget this is based on faith not science).

  1. Look at the past exam questions. PROBLEM…there has only been one round of exams for the new spec and nothing for the full A Level.
  2. Examine the specification closely (this is what your teacher will teach you from – the checklist). You must know every bullet point because examiners often just add the words ‘critically assess’ or  ‘evaluate’ in front.

E.g

conscience

If you do not have access to either sample answers or specifications go to the exam board website. So in this case go to OCR:http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/as-a-level-gce/as-a-level-gce-religious-studies-h173-h573-from-2016/ for all mark schemes, sample questions, examiners comments and specification.

First Year:

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Predictions for Philosophy 2018 (First and Second Year)

On By Aimee HorsleyIn Exam Preparation, Philosophy New SpecLeave a comment

untitled.pngI am starting to think that my students think I am Mystic Meg and have God on speed dial giving me inside tips. Because if I had a pound for every time I have been asked for my predictions over the years I could have paid for a luxury holiday to Barbados with a yacht…and cocktails.

The simple answer is – “I have no idea!” Why? Because this is the first time the full A Level has been sat. This means there are no previous questions to rule out and no lessons to be learnt. We are all going in blind!

First Year:

It is slightly easier this year as we have one round of questions and the examiner’s feedback  (see: Examiner’s Report 2017: What can we learn?).

Last year’s question paper:

philosophy

Now don’t get excited! This does not mean that Cosmological, Problem of Evil and Soul, Mind and Body won’t be on this year but it certainly is quite unlikely. However examiners love curve balls so they might throw one in just to catch you off guard. So you might for example get a question specifically on John Hick’s POE for example.

However I am thinking:

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Panic “My Exam is Tomorrow!” Must Read for Philosophy 2018 (1st and 2nd Year)

On By Aimee HorsleyIn Exam Preparation, Philosophy New SpecLeave a comment

32468058_10156606003370809_779382825869639680_nIt’s that time again! This is my tenth exam season and let me tell you it doesn’t get easier. Every year is a manic scrabble to get the A2 students ready with all their revision materials, last minute tips (and endless mock exams) and final words of wisdom (hopefully!) For the first years it is now a mad rush to finish the spec in time for the first exam. So here are my last minute tips for Philosophy…

Evaluation panic you can always use:

  • God of Gaps: Having a gap in knowledge and filling it with God. This could even be used more creatively with Plato and Aristotle e.g. what sustains the four causes (potential to actual) = Prime Mover. Prime Mover is used to fill a gap in knowledge
  • Leap of Logic: Drawing conclusions with limited or no logic/ evidence
  • Reductio ad Absurdum: reducing logical statements to illogical conclusions (e.g. design in world = God designer)
  • Burden of Proof: whoever is making the claim must back up with proof. So does Plato provide enough proof for WOF – yes/ no discuss in answer
  • Ockham’s razor: go with the simplest solution E.g. St Theresa had a vision or was it just caused by malaria? What is the simplest solution?

Evaluation:

  • You must use critical words throughout your answer to emphasize your evaluation (see to help: Adding the ‘critical’ to your critical analysis: Developing A02). If you don’t use critical words you are only stating perspectives not evaluating them. And you cannot ‘name dump’ e.g. “Stephen Fry questions how can God exist when he allows children to die of cancer. This is a convincing argument.” This is not evaluation! You must use the special word of ‘because’.
  • I recommend that my students do not use ‘I think’ as it does not read academically. Instead channel your views/arguments but use other language such as ‘one might argue’
  • Don’t forget you get a lot of marks for evaluation (15 marks first year and 24 marks second year). Have you put 15 different evaluative points in your essay using critical words with ‘because’? Have you defended against the criticism and then weighed up whether the original criticism or defence is stronger?

General:

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Revision Guides: Which ones are worth your money?

On By Aimee HorsleyIn Exam Preparation1 Comment

The Revision Guides I purchased where Libby Ahluwalia’s Oxford A Level Religious Studies (one book) and Chris Eyre and Julian Waterfield’s My Revision Notes for Religious Studies (separated into three books).

I have to admit straight away I am biased towards both books, so when ordering them I knew it was a done deal as far as quality. Ahluwalia’s text books have been an invaluable support over the last two years in preparing and teaching the new spec material. I trust Ahluwalia’s experience with OCR and her keen yet fair eye when it comes to assessment. I have also worked closely with Julian Waterfield over the years, so I know first hand his love for the subject, his honed skills for marking essays and his understanding of the reality of teaching. Neither of the Revision Guides let me down!

However I know with tight budgets purchasing a class set for both guides is unrealistic. Also bombarding students with lots of different books can sometimes over complicate revision rather than make it easier. Therefore as I am not a fence sitter, here is a rundown of my views of both guides:review 1

So my overall verdict:

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