EPQ SOW - aimed at students with an interest in Philosophy ...



This scheme of work covers Year 12 and Year 13 for January submission.

The taught course element is designed to occupy the first two terms of Yr 12, though the exact amount of time spent will vary depending on the needs of the students and the resources available.

The main 2 aims of this programme are (a) to ensure that students have the right skills for their project work (b) to give them an opportunity to explore themes, issues, ideas, frameworks of thought, debates, controversies, stimulus material and case studies which might provide them with ideas for successful projects.

In the scheme of work, it is assumed that one teacher will be working with a single group of students. If, however, it is possible for more staff to be involved in delivering the taught course basis, a strong model is to have different elements taught by different staff, depending on their differing philosophical expertise.

This scheme of work is based on a pilot project, Engaging with Philosophy, funded by the Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies and based at Lancaster University. Details of the project are at . These include not only a full report on the project, but sample resources already available (referenced under Exemplar Resources below as EwP). It is planned to make further resources to support philosophical EPQ dissertations, and the approach to tutoring students undertaking them, available on the Lancaster website.

This scheme of work contains further supplementary guidance for philosophy-based EPQ work, addressing issues such as choosing a dissertation topic, framing and exploring a question, selecting and using illustrative reading, and the relation between this reading and students’ own ideas, which go beyond that set out in the general EPQ Student Guide.

For further guidance about supervising philosophical project work, and ideas for research fields, see John Taylor’s book Think Again: A Philosophical Approach to Teaching (April 2012, Continuum Press).

The taught programme also assumes that students will each have available a copy of Thomas Nagel’s slim but excellent What does it all mean? (Oxford University Press, 1987), referenced below as Nagel.

|Week |Content coverage/ |Learning outcomes |Exemplar activities |Exemplar resources |

| |key questions | | | |

|Week |Introduction – what kinds of question | Understand the differences between philosophy and |Think about the differences between “What caused |- Nagel, Introduction |

|1 |are “philosophical”? |science / history in terms of the kind of questions |event E?”, “What general laws does E fall under?” | |

| | |asked. |and “Did E have to have a cause?” | |

|Weeks |Knowledge and its experiential basis; | Understand relations of knowledge, belief and |Stepping back from and questioning very basic |- Nagel, Chapter 2 |

|2-3 |knowledge by induction. |evidence |assumptions: | |

| | | |do we know anything? |- EwP |

| | |Understand scepticism |can we ever have justified beliefs about the | |

| | | |future? | |

| | |Understand Hume’s problem of induction. | | |

|Week |Scientific knowledge and scientism. | Understand the present cultural status of science |Explore the evolution vs. creationism debate. |- EwP |

|4 | |and some related problems. | | |

| | | | |- |

| |Thinking critically – arguments, | Understand basic logical and argument structure. |Critical exploration of the background to a |- EwP |

|Weeks |reasons and assumptions. | |particular piece of thinking on a chosen topic. | |

|5-6 | |Be able to evaluate the reasons we give for our | |- Critical Thinking, Bowell and Kemp (Routledge, 2002) |

| | |beliefs. |Worked example: Hume’s version of the teleological| |

| | | |argument from the Dialogues Concerning Natural |- EPQ Student Guide, |

| | |Be able to identify and critique the assumptions |Religion. |Sections 2.5-7 |

| | |which typically underpin our arguments. | | |

|Weeks |Why care? – introducing ethics and the | Understand the nature of ethical challenges and |Discussion in ‘philosophical enquiry’ format about|- EwP |

|7-8 |idea of obligation. |ethical obligation. |reactions to, and what we should do about, a | |

| | | |distant disaster. |- Nagel, Chapter 7 |

| | |Understand the three main normative ethical | | |

| | |frameworks (consequentialist, deontological and |Exploring the assumption that a moral character is|- EPQ Student Guide, |

| | |virtue ethics). |a character that cares appropriately – in order to|Sections 2.1-4 |

| | | |probe the foundations of our moral feeling and | |

| | | |judgment. |- open.edu/openlearn/whats-on/ethics-bites |

| | | | | |

| | | | |- bbc.co.uk/ethics/guide |

| | | | | |

| | | | |- |

|Week |Putting together ethics and scientific | Learn to question received wisdom (“duty to future |Can we extend models of obligation to cover our |- EwP |

|9 |knowledge: |generations”). |actions affecting future people, in the context of| |

| |the case of global | |global warming? |- DVD: The Age of Stupid - |

| |warming. |Identify one’s personal views in a contested area. |Is real prediction possible under serious |title/tt1300563/ |

| | | |uncertainty? | |

| | | |Can we have real obligations to non-existent | |

| | | |others? | |

|Week |Ethics and ‘the (un)natural’. | Practise examining the deeper meanings of commonly |Look at how current biomedical technology forces |EwP |

|10 | |used terms and their ambiguities. |us to address philosophical questions, | |

| | | |specifically those around human nature. Certain |- |

| | |Understand different perspectives, assumptions and |practices seem ‘unnatural’ – does this make them | |

| | |motivations. |wrong? |- See also the Nowgen resource on the Edexcel Project |

| | | | |website resources section |

| | |Learn to use examples, counterexamples and thought | | |

| | |experiments. | | |

|Week |Political philosophy: states, liberties| More practice in questioning received wisdom (“human|Read relevant extracts from Locke and Bentham. How|- EwP |

|11 |and rights. |rights”) and identifying one’s own views in a |can there be ‘natural rights’ to use as leverage | |

| | |contested area. |against particular jurisdictions? |- Texts at: |

| | | | | |

| | |Practice in reading philosophical texts | | |

|Week |Approaches to choosing a dissertation | Learn how to challenge oneself (i.e. go beyond |Thinking towards a project proposal: topics found |EPQ Student Guide, |

|12 |topic and to starting self-directed |previous experience) in addressing a topic. |challenging so far; themes/issues found |Section 3.1 |

| |research. | |interesting. Exploring possible specific topics. | |

| | |Begin to have some idea of a topic to be explored in |What counts as a philosophically interesting | |

| | |an EP dissertation. |topic? | |

| |

|Christmas holiday – initial research (reading and note-taking) leading towards possible dissertation questions |

|Week |Content coverage/ |Learning outcomes |Exemplar activities |Exemplar resources |

| |key questions | | | |

|Week |Political philosophy: | Understand the ideas of negative and |Do we, or could we, have a ‘natural’ right to negative |- EwP |

|1 |Plato, democracy and human flourishing. |positive liberty |liberty, if such liberty impeded our genuine | |

| | | |well-being? |Plato’s Republic, |

| | |More practice in questioning received | |Simon Blackburn |

| | |wisdom (“Democracy – hurrah!”) and | |(Atlantic Books, 2006) |

| | |coolly discussing and evaluating | | |

| | |controversial claims. | |Philosophy: the Classics, |

| | | | |Nigel Warburton |

| | | | | |

| | | | |- Episode on Plato available online at: |

| | | | |

| | | | |254465298 |

|Weeks |Free will vs. determinism: “Me or my brain| Understand the free will and |Real life case study used to structure investigation, |- EwP |

|2-3 |tumour?” |determinism issue, and its bearing on |stimulate thought and illustrate argument. | |

| | |moral responsibility. | |- Nagel, Chapter 6 |

| | | | | |

| | |Learn to compare claims with nuanced | |- Exchanges at the Frontier, |

| | |differences, emphasizing the role of | |A.C Grayling and Patricia Churchland. Available online at |

| | |subtle difference in philosophical | |bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005bckf |

| | |thinking. | | |

| | | | |- See also Nowgen resources on the Edexcel Project website |

| | | | |resources section |

|Week |How to read philosophy |Increased skill in reading complex and |Extracts from philosophers’ writings on the main | |

|4 | |extended argument in classic and modern|philosophical topics considered so far. |- For the classics: |

| | |philosophical texts. | | |

|Week |Moving towards a choice of dissertation |Focussing in on a real-life topic which|Group exercises on identifying key words, themes and |- Examples of topics chosen in pilot project for a |

|5 |topic |both grips you personally and raises |concepts in relation to particular issues. Introduction|philosophical EP can be found at: |

| | |interesting philosophical questions. |to structuring a philosophical essay. |lancs.ac.uk/fass/ppr/outreach/docs/Engaging%20with%20Phil|

| | | | |osophy%20Final%20Report.pdf |

| | | | |(Section III of the Report) |

|Week |Framing a question and initial planning |Understand how to approach turning a |Examples of how to focus in on, read initially around |EPQ Student Guide, |

|6 |for its exploration. |topic of interest into a question on |and sharpen up your topic. Preparing a first draft |Section 3 |

| | |which a philosophical EP could be |dissertation proposal. | |

| | |written. | | |

|Weeks |Small scale mini-project |Practise research techniques as these |A small scale project, giving students a chance to |- Lots of accessible ideas relating to a variety of issues |

|7-8 | |apply to a philosophical dissertation. |explore a topic which they might make their |can be found at: |

| | | |dissertation focus. Students produce a short report and| |

| | | |do a short presentation to the rest of the group, based| |

| | | |on readings from two philosophers with differing |- For an overview of classical philosophers and their |

| | | |perspectives on the key philosophical issue raised by |approaches, Nigel Warburton’s Philosophy: the Classics is |

| | | |the topic. |accessible. |

| | | | |amazon.co.uk/Philosophy-Classics-Nigel-Warburton/dp/04153|

| | | | |56296 |

|Weeks |Completing mini-projects and producing an | Students to have finalised (for the |Explain the importance of the project proposal form. At|- The Project proposal form is downloadable from the Edexcel |

|9-10 |agreed proposal form including objectives |outset of their work) what they will be|this stage you may also want to give them an idea of |Project website: |

| |and milestones. |working on. [Proposal forms can be |the timeframe for the whole project. |quals/project/level3/Pages/documents.aspx |

| | |revisited as further ideas emerge and |Explain that good projects should start from, but go | |

| | |questions get refined.] |beyond, the student’s other areas of study. |- EPQ Student Guide, |

| | | | |Section 3.1 |

| | | | |‘Identifying a project topic or research question’ and |

| | | | |Section 3.2 |

| | | | |‘Planning the project’ |

|Weeks |Identifying the “research” field – what am| Student has a reading list and initial|Spend time discussing with each student. Check that | |

|11-12 |I going to read as background to my topic |research agenda specific to his/her |their choice of objective is focused and clear – a |- The voiceover Student Guide presentation from the Chief |

| |and how am I going to profit from reading |chosen topic. |research question, hypothesis, or specific design brief|Examiner provides guidance for students on all aspects of the|

| |it? | |should be present. |project process: |

| | | | |edexcel._a49419191/p4ma3382j7b/ |

| |Activity logs and how to use them. |Student knows how to use the activity |Explain that each week, at least, the student should | |

| | |log as a personal work tool. |write up the week’s work, focussing on the significant |- The activity log is downloadable from the Edexcel Project |

| | | |developments. |website: |

| | | | |quals/project/level3/Pages/documents.aspx |

| |

|Easter holiday: a chance to begin reading around the chosen topic per the agreed reading schedule. |

| |

|Much of the summer term will be dominated by preparing for and taking exams for students likely to be doing a philosophical EP, and work in the period following exams is often fragmented for a Yr 12 group. In this Scheme of |

|Work, therefore, it is assumed that students will spend their Yr 12 summer term in following up their reading programme largely under their own steam, guided by periodic one-to-one discussions with their EP tutors to ensure |

|that this work is progressing, that the students are making philosophical sense of what they are reading and relating this to their chosen topic / question, that emerging refinements or reframing of the question are discussed |

|and agreed, and that students are writing summaries of and reflections on their reading as they go. |

|Week |Content coverage/ |Learning outcomes |Exemplar activities |Exemplar resources |

| |key questions | | | |

|Weeks |Research (reading, thinking and | Gaining philosophical insight from their |Students should be following up leads and ideas from their|- EPQ Student Guide |

|1-12 |note-making). |reading. |reading. Emphasize using initiative here – not just going |Sections 4.2 and 4.5 |

| | | |for obvious websites, but using libraries, books and | |

| |Building up a picture of (some of) the |Building “reading review” section of EP |journals. | |

| |philosophical background to their |dissertation. | | |

| |chosen topic. | |Remind students of the value of writing up as they read | |

| | | |and think. Insist that they keep track of their sources | |

| |First-draft writing of that part of the| |and build their bibliography as they go. | |

| |dissertation which will record and | | | |

| |review relevant reading. | |Remind students to keep up their activity logs. | |

| | | | | |

| | | |Remind students to summarise and evaluate reflectively | |

| | | |each source they use. This can be done in footnotes. | |

| | | | | |

| | | |Tutors (and ideally fellow students) should selectively | |

| | | |read and comment on emerging material from students. | |

|End of Year 12 |

|By the end of year 12, all students should have completed a project proposal form, have substantial draft material for the “research review” section and be ready to start the discussion / development section. |

|Start of Year 13 |

|Week |Content coverage/ |Learning outcomes |Exemplar activities |Exemplar resources |

| |key questions | | | |

|Weeks |Development and Realization. |Students continue to work at |They should be writing up their discussion / development section. Emphasize that this is |- EPQ Student Guide Section 4.7 |

|1 - 5 | |the development of their |their section – we want to see their own ideas coming through. It should not simply be a |‘Discussing Discussions’ |

| | |project. |further reading report on other people’s ideas. | |

| | | | | |

| | | |Check that students are making use of genuine ‘level 3’ ideas and techniques. There should| |

| | | |be a strong backbone to the discussion / development section, in which they bring the | |

| | | |philosophical ideas which they explored to bear on the topic question which they have | |

| | | |chosen. So they should be using materials from their research section. | |

| | | | | |

| | | |Remind students that good writing is important. They should organise their material, using| |

| | | |paragraphing and sub-headings as appropriate, and ensuring that the different sections | |

| | | |link coherently. | |

| | | | |- EPQ Student Guide Section 4.3 |

| | | | |‘Good Communication’ |

| |Conclusion and Evaluation | Students produce |Talk about the importance of a clear conclusion and what goes into the evaluation section.|EPQ Student Guide |

|Week | |conclusion/evaluations for |Explain that the evaluation section addresses the project process – what has gone well and|Section 4.8 |

|6 | |their project |badly, where the real strengths and weaknesses (honestly and precisely identified) are, |‘Conclusion or Evaluation’ |

| | | |how the work could be extended, what has been learned about research, and what would be | |

| | | |done differently next time. | |

|Week |Abstract | Students produce a short |Explain the purpose of an abstract, or project outline. Students should produce a short |- EPQ Student Guide, |

|7 | |outline of the entire project |summary of their work. |Section 4.9 |

| | | | |‘Outline’ |

|Week |Introduction | Students write the |Explain that the purpose of the introduction is to set the scene, and indicate why their |- EPQ Student Guide, |

|8 |Bibliography / References |introduction to their project |topic question is interesting and challenging. It can be based on material included in the|Section 4.10 |

| | | |project proposal form, but should expand on this, addressing the different aspects of the |‘The final report’ |

| | |Students update their |question, the rationale for doing the project and defining key terms. | |

| | |references and bibliography | | |

| | | |Remind students about the importance of citing all sources. This is another opportunity to| |

| | | |remind them that plagiarized material must not be present in their work. | |

| | | | |- EPQ Student Guide, |

| | | | |Section 4.4 |

| | | | |‘All my own work’ and Section 4.5 |

| | | | |‘Bibliography and footnotes’ |

|Weeks |Editing and re-drafting | Final version of EP |Explain to students that the best projects are those which are carefully edited and |- EPQ Student Guide, |

|9-10 | |dissertation |re-drafted, to ensure that everything is clear, and relevant to the project objectives. |Section 4.10 |

| | | | |‘The final report’ |

| | | |Provide them with feedback to assist them in this process. It is acceptable to give | |

| | | |guidance about areas which need more attention, points which are not clearly expressed, | |

| | | |weaknesses in the argument, obvious areas where more could be explored, and so on, though | |

| | | |the teacher should stop short of giving the work a mark at this stage. | |

|Weeks |Preparing and delivering the presentation: | |Talk about the assessment criteria for the presentation. |EPQ Student Guide 5.1 |

|11-12 |These concluding weeks of the term should be used to round off project work and for students to do their presentations. These should take place in small groups, ideally, with 2 adults present, one of | |Talk about what makes a good and a bad presentation. |‘Show and tell’ |

| |whom should be the teacher – assessor. There is an oral presentation record card on the Edexcel website which should be completed. Candidates should include a copy of their PowerPoint slides (printed 6 | |Emphasize the need for brevity – they cannot say everything in | |

| |slides per page) with their final project. They should sign the candidate authentication statement. Work should be treasury tagged. | |10 mins! | |

| |For guidance on marking, please see the specification. | | | |

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We are happy to provide this scheme of work for you to amend and adapt to suit your teaching purposes.

We hope you find this useful.

Editable scheme of work

Detailed help on resources

Week by week content coverage

Exemplar activities

Learning outcome

Edexcel Level 3 Extended Project

Scheme of work for an Extended Project

aimed at students with an interst in Philosophy

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