Question Structure Flashcards
c) Evaluate the suggestions you have made in part (d) with reference to issues and debates you have studied in psychology. 10 marks
Potential issues for evaluation:
Assumptions relating to naturelnature eg. potential to learn/change understanding
Assumptions relating to freewill/determinism eg are teachers or students resistant to instruction?
Assumptions relating to reductionism/holism eg. do individual teaching sessions or single experiments recognise the holistic nature of memory?
Assumptions relating individual/situational explanations eg is memory too unique to be that well understood?
Usefulness eg practicalities of suggested ways, will they make a difference?
Ethical considerations e.g. may teachers feel patronised by a certain approach? Social sensitivity e.g. may teachers feel they are being labelled as non-experts in this important field?
Psychology as a science e.g. are theories well tested?
Ethnocentrism - is the importance of memory being over-emphasised at the expense of other important skills?
Validity-experimental realism of research, social desirability in student responses, ecological validity of training sessions
Reliability-do findings generalise to students or all students?
9.10 marks for demonstrating good evaluation that is relevant to the demand of the question. The arguments are coherently presented with clear understanding of the points raised. A range of appropriate evaluation points are considered. The evaluation points are in context and supported by relevant evidence of the description given in 7d. More than one suggestion is evaluated.
Using your knowledge of psychology, suggest ways that teachers could be taught to improve their understanding of how their students’ memory works.
7-8 marks for a high standard of knowledge and understanding of how the suggested ways could be used to improve teachers understanding of how memory works. There is very effective application of psychological knowledge within these suggestions. The suggestions are largely accurate and several details have been included about how they could be implemented and developed. At least two suggestions are covered.
