Stop press: Spag is now with Qwoc’s gang…

Spag is now with Qwoc’s gang and is in a band

A number us remember the introduction of sp&g (aka spag) – spelling, punctuation and grammar – in GCSE science courses and the requirement for candidates to be assessed on their ability to, well, spell, punctuate and use basic rules of grammar. There was a general, though occasionally grudging, acceptance that this was appropriate: “beacker” and “potasium” set the teeth on edge and a hint of where one sentence ends and the next begins was to be welcomed. In any case, it was only a few marks.

This has now been superseded by QWC (aka Qwoc) – quality of written communication. Spag is part, but only part, of Qwoc. Qwoc is bigger and includes style of writing and appropriate organisation of information. We know that some pupils will have little difficulty with this and already express themselves in writing effectively; for others this may be a bigger challenge. Perhaps they’ll drop a couple of marks. However, Qwoc lives in a banded mark scheme. If pupils are very poor at expressing themselves this will prevent them from getting high marks on those questions, no matter how good their science is. Each external assessment in the new GCSE courses is set to have several Qwoc questions –around 30% of the marks on the paper – and at both tiers. A minority of these marks are for QWC but the banding means that if QWC is really poor, other marks can’t be accessed.

This will divide opinion. One point of view is that it’s penalising good scientists for being bad at English. We’ve all taught pupils who were good at developing ideas and making connections but who struggled to express themselves in writing. They could sometimes do reasonably well in the current form of assessments. In any case, we don’t expect our colleagues in English to reinforce in their teaching the difference between mass and weight.

The other view is that being able to generate extended written responses is an important skill for a scientist. The one line question “How does an aerofoil work?” (followed by a large space and a 6 mark allocation) is no more than we should expect from a capable GCSE science candidate. The counter posing of Science and English doesn’t reflect the true nature of science. Science is a linguistic construct; we can only develop meaning through the use of words, sentences and structures.

One thing is for sure: Spag has joined Qwoc and they’re in a band. This has implications for lesson design; there are teaching strategies that will support pupils to develop the skills to produce high quality written responses. Our sparkling classroom performer who may struggle in an exam isn’t poor at literacy (they can speak and listen) but poor at writing and there are ways of addressing this. We need to get our heads around this; we may well have colleagues who already have (and they won’t necessarily be in Science). The question is perhaps not so much how would current year 10 or 11 pupils do in such exams but what skills can be developed in the year 9 pupils with appropriately structured teaching. We may not see a stunning rise or fall in the national A*-C percentages in 2013 but I bet behind this they’ll be some increases and drops at school level.

Ed Walsh, Science Advisor with Cornwall Learning.

Other Articles

Improving student writing for Extended Response Questions in AQA GCSE Sciences

The last twelve months or so have affected many people in many different ways.  Apart from the appalling death toll and the long-term effects on the health of many others, the control measures put in place have changed the way that schooling has worked for entire cohorts.  The Extended Response Question resource I edited for Collins turned out to be a lockdown publication in more ways than one.  Though conceived prior to the pandemic, much of the writing was done during the first lockdown.  Although designed for use in a conventional classroom setting, it has much relevance for the situation we now find ourselves in. This article outlines why good literacy is a key skill in science, and how you can help develop your students' extended writing to successfully tackle extended response questions in AQA GCSE Sciences. Why is literacy important in science? There is a long and not always easy relationship between science education and the development of literacy skills; extended response questions are probably at the sharp end of this.  Should the preparation of candidates to deal with ‘six markers’ be seen as a further burden on students and teachers and one peripheral to the central business of developing scientific knowledge and understanding? Is it seen as a key skill of a scientist to be able to construct a longer explanation? Is it best to simply be pragmatic and accept that it’s there in the exams and is worth a not insignificant number of marks? One of the hallmarks of the last year has been the high profile given to scientists, some of whom have become regular guests on news programmes and many of whom have acquitted themselves well not only in terms of the grasp of their specialism but also their ability to explain complex ideas.  This is not new of course; I would argue that it is part and parcel of being a scientist to be able to construct a longer response.  Being able to describe a procedure, compare two different approaches, or evaluate an idea is in the job description. Furthermore, many teachers have come to realise that getting students to write longer responses has a value that goes beyond simply demonstrating a competence in dealing with that type of question.  It shows whether they have understood ideas in more detail, can use key terminology in context and draw ideas together from different parts of the course. How can I improve my students’ extended responses? The AQA GCSE (9–1) Extended Response Questions Teacher Response Pack was written to offer teachers a way forward in three main ways:  The first was responding to the immediate situation if there are students in Year 11 who are underperforming and need both practice and guidance. We’ll soon know how these students will be assessed for the purposes of awarding grades this year and items like this may well figure large.  For some students, it’s more opportunities (so we’ve included dozens of such questions) and for others, it’s an unpacking of the command words.  Because AQA now use the same level descriptors each time a certain command word is used, students can be trained to respond accordingly.  An evaluate question needs a judgment, for example, and the candidate who doesn’t include one cannot get full marks. The second purpose is a more strategic view over the GCSE courses and a desire to integrate the use, both of the questions and ideas, about how to explicitly teach the skills of response over the duration of the course. The third is to support the view that it needs to be an even longer-term strategy.  We progressively develop practical skills and cornerstone concepts such as the particulate model of matter over five years; we should do the same with the skills of constructing longer responses. The constituent aspects of focusing on key terminology, quality sentence construction, and the organisation of text will serve students well on a number of fronts.  What some of our students need is repeated exposure to language and ideas.  We need to get them to not only think like a scientist but also to write like a scientist, and that won’t happen in the six weeks prior to an exam. How can I use this resource with my students? Twenty years in teaching and almost as many in curriculum development have taught me how inventive and creative teachers are (and have to be) in terms of devising approaches and developing ways of developing student competencies.  What we’ve done with this resource is to offer a toolkit.  There is a range of materials in there.  For each question, there is a model answer that would get full marks and another that would get some of the marks.  These are designed to present to students to develop their capacity to recognise improvements.  We’ve included commentaries as well, to support teachers to see what examiners will look for. The feedback we’re getting is that this lends itself to use in a range of ways, including learning at home.  In a recent interview in the Financial Times, Professor Sir John Holman (author of the Good Practical Science report) expressed the hope that the recently raised profile of science would increase interest in STEM careers, but that this would only happen if, principally amongst other factors, the teaching supported it.  Teaching needs to be good, and so do the tools that support it.  Check out the sample pages and see what you think. Watch Ed's talk at the ASE Conference 2021 to find out more about the AQA GCSE (9–1) Extended Response Questions Teacher Response Pack    By Ed Walsh Ed Walsh is a freelance consultant, specializing in science education. A teacher for twenty years and a team leader for twelve of those, he now writes and edits curriculum materials, designs and delivers CPD, and works with science departments to improve the quality of their provision. View secondary Science resources from Collins, including books written and edited by Ed. Read More

Ideas for re-engaging students with science this term

It’s always a risk when committing thoughts to paper (or cloud) on education policy and practice; what might seem adventurous or at least perceptive at the time of writing can look predictable or even downright out of date by the time it’s circulated.  Moving from hard print to digital communication… Read More

Hot topics from the ASE Science conference

The morning after the night before. This year’s ASE Conference was held in Birmingham in January. Always a good cure for New Year’s blues, it was a lively mix of ideas, projects and sharing of experiences.  A key topic of conversation for many people involved with the secondary phase was… Read More