Course guide



International Baccalaureate

Group 3: Psychology (NEW SPEC)

Revised Course Guide

September 2017- May 2019

Name: …………………………………

Welcome!

Congratulations! You have completed your GCSEs and hopefully enjoyed a nice long summer! We are delighted that you have chosen psychology as your Group 3 subject and want to ensure that, throughout the year and beyond, you look back and know that you made the right choice! This booklet provides some useful information about the course so keep it safe at the start of

your folder so that you can access it whenever you need to!

You are about to embark upon an intense and exciting couple of years in which you will discover a whole new subject which hopefully will inspire you and help you to...

• understand more about effective learning and, thus improve your study habits

• enhance your self knowledge, improve your relationships

• develop an empathic and compassionate outlook and an appreciation of human diversity

• support you to take risks and consider perspectives and outlooks that differ from your own

• develop crucial scientific research skills, which will allow you to evaluate evidence and devise and conduct research studies

You will develop understanding and skills in the following areas...

• Three core approaches to understanding mental processes and behaviour;

• socio-cultural

• cognitive

• biological

• psychological terminology, concepts, theories, studies and methods

• how psychological knowledge is generated using both quantitative and qualitative research methods

• skills in designing a research study, analyzing and reporting your findings

• ethical issues in Psychology, including the ethical implications of psychological research

• how to analyse, interpret and evaluate psychological research

• ways in which psychological research can be applied to real world problems

• how the approaches interact to provide an integrative approach to the understanding Abnormal Psychology (SL and SHL) and Health Psychology (HL)

Working together

Studying the IB diploma will be a big step up from GCSE and the subject of psychology will be new to you, although you may already have some understanding of what it involves from things you have watched on television, books and articles you have read.

I am sure soon become inspired and passionate about Psychology. Many people find the subject fascinating as we often focus on phenomena with which we are all familiar. Sometimes students find their interest slipping, as they become embroiled in new terminology, complex further reading and the multitude of perspectives and methods that psychologists use to approach their subject, not to mention the statistics, experiments and report writing! For this reason, it is vital that you keep on top of your studies from the out-set as success will require not just interest and an enquiring mind but determination and hard work.

This will be an intense year where you will develop new skills and ways of thinking alongside a lot of new subject knowledge. Your fellow students will become a very important source of support if you can learn to work well together and learn from each other. At revision time, often pupils who plan and work together, succeed together.

Once you have had a chance to get to know each other as sixth formers, choose your ‘study buddies’ or learning mentors carefully. Work in teams and support each other. Work as a class. You will need to work hard individually and encourage and support each other. Teaching a topic to another student is a great way to learn it really thoroughly for yourself as well providing help to your friend.

Supporting and complementing your studies

Clubs: Psychology Plus is a club for anyone interested in Psychology and runs on Monday lunchtimes. We watch films and documentaries, have visiting speakers and discuss contemporary research. The club aims to develop interests outside the specification and is particularly helpful for anyone who is thinking of studying psychology at university. We hope that you will also input into planning and leading activities for Year 9s who have their own psychology club and you may wish to use Plus time to work on your plans.

Clinics: We are available for help with HW etc. on Thursday lunchtimes.

Tutorials: If you wish to chat to us one-to-one or as small group, please book a tutorial where will find a convenient time to chat to you either in a free period or before or after school.

Targets: At varying points throughout the term, there will be opportunities to review, revise and assess your learning. You will be asked to set short term targets to improve your studies. Targets help you to achieve your goals. Goals are your dreams, where you want to be in five years, 10 years, 20 years. The ways to make them a reality is to set targets which are...

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timed targets

To reach each target, you will need to set individual tasks for each week, each day, each study session and tick them off as you go. Catch yourself getting it right, celebrate success, however tiny!

It’s good to talk...

If at any point during the year, you feel that you need to go over anything more slowly or to talk about anything that you feel is getting in the way of your understanding and importantly, your enjoyment of the course, please come and talk to us as soon as possible, don’t delay!

Comparing the SL and HL courses

Paper 1: The Approaches

Similarity: All pupils, SL and HL study the biological, cognitive and socio-cultural approaches; you will study Bio with Mrs Pye and socio-cultural with Miss Wood in year 1 and cognitive with Miss Wood in Year 2.

Difference: HLs (only) will study set of extensions to each approach:

• Biological Extension: you will study ‘the role of animal research in understanding human behaviour’ (Miss Wood)

• Cognitive Extension: Cog you will study ‘cognitive processing in the digital world’ (Mrs Pye)

• Socio-cultural Extension: The influence of globalization on individual attitudes, identities and behaviour. (Miss Wood)

• This differentiation of HL and SL is reflected in Paper 1: Section B, where one, two or even all three of the essay questions could be linked to the extension topic.

Paper 2: The Options

Similarity: All pupils, SL and HL study Abnormal Psychology in Year 2 with Miss Wood.

Difference: HL pupils will also study Health Psychology in Year 2 with Mrs Pye.

This differentiation of HL and SL is reflected in Paper 2 (one essay in one hour for SLs, 2 essays in 2 hours for HLs)

Research Methods and Ethics

Similarity: All pupils will be expected to show their understanding of approaches to research and ethics in the internal assessment and for criterion D (critical thinking) in paper 1 section B and Paper 2 responses. For this reason we have embedded research methods and ethics lessons into all three approaches.

Difference: HL pupils will be directly assessed on their understanding of approaches to research in Paper 3 of the external assessment; SLs do not sit this paper.

The Internal Assessment (IA)

Similarity: Everyone completes an IA and the requirements are exactly the same for all pupils, Hl and SL.

Course Structure and Assessment

Exams may seem a long way off, nearly two years in fact, but it’s important to have a detailed understanding of what lies ahead from day one. Don’t worry we will have plenty of practice along the way!

| |SLs |Note to HLs |Advice for timing |

|Paper 1: |Duration: 2 hours |All Same as SLs except… |SAQs: Aim for 20 minutes each; no |

|Core |Section A: Three short-answer questions (27|One, two or all of the essays will |more than 22.5 minutes |

| |marks) |reference the additional HL topic |ERQ: Give yourself an hour, if you |

| |Section B: One essay from a choice of three|Total: 49 marks total; Worth: 40% |only have 55 minutes this is actually|

| |on the core approaches (22 marks) | |the correct proportion of time given |

| |Total: 49 marks | |the marks! |

| |Worth: 50% | | |

|Paper 2: |Duration: 1 hour |Duration: 2 hours |One hour per ERQ |

|Options |One ERQ from a choice of three on Abnormal |2 ERQs; one from a choice of three on| |

| |Psychology; one question is guaranteed from|each of the two options; Abnormal and| |

| |each sub-section. |Health Psychology. One question | |

| |Total: 22 marks |guaranteed from each sub-section. | |

| |Worth: 25% |Total: 44 marks | |

| | |Worth: 20% | |

|Paper 3: |N/A |Duration: 1 hour |20 minutes per question; (2.5 minutes|

|Methods and Ethics | |three SAQs relating to an unseen |per mark) |

| | |extract about a research study; | |

| | |questions are predictable as drawn | |

| | |from a set list of six ‘static’ | |

| | |questions | |

| | |Total: 24 marks | |

| | |Worth: 20% | |

|Internal Assessment |You will conduct an experiment in groups of|Same for everyone |The IB advise this should take |

| |no more than 4 and write up a report. This | |aapprox. 20 hours. Start in the |

| |will be internally assessed and externally | |summer term of Year 12; submit first |

| |moderated. | |half of the autumn of Year 13. |

| |Total: 22 marks | | |

| |Worth: 20% | | |

What makes IB Psychology special?

The IB Diploma hopes to nurture ten special qualities in its learners which they call the IB learner profile. As you travel through the psychology course, developing your knowledge and skills, take time to think about how you are personally developing each of these qualities...

Theory of knowledge

Psychology lends itself really well to the ‘theory of knowledge’ component of your course and there will be lots of opportunities to embed tasks into the curriculum which tie in with what you are learning about in TOK. Questions related to theory of knowledge activities that you might consider during the course include the following:

• To what extent are the methods of the natural sciences applicable in the human sciences?

• Are the findings of the natural sciences as reliable as those of the human sciences?

• To what extent can empathy, intuition and feeling be legitimate ways of knowing in the human sciences?

• Are there human qualities or behaviours that will remain beyond the scope of the human sciences?

• To what extent can information in human sciences be quantified?

• Do knowledge claims in the human sciences imply ethical responsibilities?

• To what extent do the knowledge claims of the social sciences apply across different historical periods and cultures?

• Does psychological research ever prove anything? Why do we say that results only indicate or suggest?

• How are ethics involved in the study of psychology? When and how do ethical standards change?

• Noam Chomsky has written, “… we will always learn more about human life and human personality from novels than from scientific psychology.” Would you agree?

Internationalism

Embracing cultural diversity and fostering a sense of internationalism in its learners is at the heart of the IB’s mission. In psychology, we hope to embed this sense of global citizenship through encouraging reflexivity, that is, an awareness of one’s own inherent biases and those of psychologists who have gone before us, who have at times presented explanations of human experience and behaviour common only to white, middle class, and predominantly male academics and their students. Internationalism will be actively incorporated into our curriculum through an exploration of cultural differences and the effects of globalisation and pupils will be routinely encouraged to question and challenge whether findings, concepts or explanations have validity for the diverse range of human cultures.

How to make the most of psychology...

We will begin each new topic with an overview of the syllabus area, learning objectives and some vocabulary for your glossary, to ensure that you are completely aware of what you need to know. Many of the handouts and other materials will be available online and there will sometimes be task to complete before lessons which will put uploaded to google classroom.

Every lesson: Consolidate or cement your understanding of class notes every lesson, within 24 hours where possible. We will teach you some systems for keeping notes, for example ‘brain frames’ and the ‘Cornell technique’, both of which encourage you to revisit your notes to consolidate new learning.

• Each week: SLs and HLs will receive a weekly homework from both members of staff. HLs will be set an additional piece of HW alternating between the 2 teachers, to give 3 extra pieces per staff member per half term. You will be given one week to complete your work but try to get in the habit of starting your work in good time in case you find it tricky. The transition to sixth form is a big leap so don’t worry if the work feels difficult or different to what you are used to but make sure you ask for help BEFORE the deadline where ever possible. Remember the drop in clinics are there to help you!

• Every half term: Half term grades will be based on home, classwork and formal mid-term tests which may comprise multiple choice questions, short answer and essay questions. We may not always follow the same format so be sure to listen to instructions carefully!

• At the end of a topic: At the end of every topic, you should ensure all your notes are in order including brain-frames, glossaries and revision materials. Make sure you have completed tracking documents and target setting sheets as we will be taking folders and book in to check general notes as well as homework from time to time.

• When you get work back: Each time you received marked work back we will give you a DIRT target (directed, improvement and reflection time); please track you progress towards these targets carefully using the sheets provided. Use a ‘grade visualiser’ sheet to record your marks. This will give you an overview as the course progresses, of how you are getting on. On the tracking sheet be sure to record any recognitions, detentions or requests for tutorials/clinics.

• Set your own targets: Read your feedback carefully and think about how you could improve this piece of work specifically or how to improve your knowledge of the area more generally.

Practise writing SMART targets (specific, measurable,

attainable, realistic and timed). For example, don’t write ‘try

harder next time’ try ‘book tutorial on social cognitive theory and ask

for help on defining self-efficacy’, ‘search for and read a more recent

article by Reicher and Haslam’, ‘complete additional questions in Cardwell on p 34’ etc!

• Strike while the iron is hot! Don’t leave it too long before you address your targets, otherwise things will have moved on and you won’t get round to it!

What happens if I am away?

If you are way, many of the handouts will be online; however you should book a tutorial and/or come to clinic as soon as possible to make sure that you fully understand any missed work. If you are away when work is returned it will be put in the marked work area in SF3 and 4.

Good luck!

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download