The Science Rifi

A controlled assessment is a new form of internal assessment that replaces coursework in the UK.

• Plan practical ways to answer scientific questions and test hypotheses.
• Devise appropriate methods for the collection of numerical and other data.
• Assess and manage risks when carrying out practical work.
• Collect, process, analyse and interpret primary and secondary data including the use of appropriate technology.
• Draw evidence-based conclusions.
• Evaluate methods of data collection and the quality of the resulting data.

Outline of the ISA process

Step 1
-Teacher chooses assessment task from a few provided by AQA
-Teacher explains to students the nature of the problem to be investigated – This is a hypothesis supplied by AQA*

Step 2
Students research:
- 2 ways to carry out the investigation- record notes on AQA-supplied candidate notes sheet
-The context around the investigation
-Risk assessment –health and safety issues around the investigation
On the candidate notes sheet, students will record-

• The hypothesis
• Reference the research sources
• A concise method- clear, step by step
• Risk assessment
• How experiment relates to context supplied - See the Carrying Out a Preliminary research page

Step 3
Students draw a blank table of results- see the Recording and analysing data page

Step 4 Test Section 1 (20 marks)
Students complete a written 45 minute test with questions about:

• the equipment that you plan to use
• how you will use the equipment
• the measurements that you are going to make
• how you will make it a fair test
• a risk assessment

Step 5 Part 2 of the ISA
-Carry out the practical using your chosen method or an AQA supplied method
-Record results on a table
-Draw suitable chart (bar chart, line graph as appropriate) -for guidelenes, see the Recording and Analysing data page

Step 6 Test Part 2
-50 minute test about results, conclusion and evaluation, will also relate investigation to context