Thanks for the reply but....
It is not a question of 'giving marks for the
appropriate answer'
My view - and I stand to be corrected - is that the
answers are wrong.
So - do I teach what to me are wrong answers or do I
do what I went into teaching for and teach the right
answers?
An AQA Examiner said to me the other day that
'economies of scale' meant a fall in total costs.
When I queried this he said 'That is the definition
allowed though of course a fall in average total cost
is the correct answer'
So - do I teach what meets the (incorrect) answers or
do I ...just teach.
Please remember there is a difference between wrong
and right (as opposed to relevant and irrelevant).
Imagine the confusion that is caused where a pupil
reads the specimen answers and sees them in conflict
with what he is taught!
As far as the A2 query goes...I haven't looked that
far ahead as I currently also deal with the old
syllabus pupils too.
Thanks for the replies so far both to the group and
privately.
Are there no AQA Examienrs who subscribe to this
group?
DH
> >
> > I am confused and now becoming more concerned that
> I
> > have been teaching my pupils incorrectly.
> >
> > If anyone has a copy of the mark Schemes would you
> be
> > kind enough to turn to page 15?
> >
> > The question is:
> >
> > 'To what extent might the 'Buy One Get One Free'
> > marketing disaster have been a result of poor
> market
> > research?'
> >
> > Part of the marking guidelines says:
> >
> > 'Not a total disaster/not all restaurants were
> > affected and it gave plenty of publicity to the
> > company'
> >
> > To me that seems totally irrelevant to the
> question.
> > If a pupil wrote that and I had not seen the
> marking
> > guidelines then I most definitely would have
> marked it
> > as incorrect.
> >
> > Thus if there is a question:
> >
> > "To what extent was the disastrous sales
> performance
> > as a result of Fred's decision to raise price?"
> (for
> > example) should I now advise pupils to query
> whether
> > it was indeed a disaster - even though that is not
> > relevant?
> >
> >
> > Equally on page 16 the question says:
> >
> > Explain what is meant by:
> >
> > 'Overheads'
> >
> >
> > The answer given is:
> >
> > "Costs which do not vary with output. Examples
> include
> > maintenance....."
> >
> >
> > This simply is not true as electricity can vary
> with
> > output and would be treated as a semi-variable.
> There
> > are such things as Variable Overheads and also
> Fixed
> > Overheads.
> >
> > Another question says:
> >
> > 'Scunpool United is not a profitable business.
> Examine
> > the circumstances in which any business can
> survive
> > without profits'
> >
> > (page 18)
> >
> > Answer:
> >
> > "The objectives of the directors of the business
> are
> > very important"
> >
> > This semes to me to be irrelevant. If the question
> had
> > been "....in which a business may wish to survive
> > without profits..." then yes, but it was not.
> >
> > Another question says:
> >
> > 'What is meant by 'Ltd'
> >
> > (page 41)
> >
> > the answer states:
> >
> > Candidate could concentrate on either the
> 'Private' of
> > the 'Limited' elements.
> >
> > Again the 'private' may be broadly relevant but
> > certainly not to be concentrated on.
> >
> > The thing that really concerns me is that had I
> not
> > had a copy of the Specimen marking schemes I would
> > have marked the answers given above as 'wrong' and
> > thus would apparently be misleading my pupils. IF
> I am
> > correct (i.e. that these answers given are
> > incorrect)then by teaching my pupils 'the correct
> way'
> > I will have penalised/hindered their likely
> > examination performance.
> >
> > This worries me and I would welcome comments from
> all
> > especially those teaching AQA.
> >
> > DH
> >
>
> My guess is that AQA will give credit for
> appropriate answers, so your
> students should be OK. However, I agree with your
> comments on the answers
> provided for the specimen units.
> My I ask you something regarding the AQA course? As
> you know, the Teacher's
> Guide allocates the amount of time to be allocated
> for each module. This is
> fine for the AS, but the time allocated to the A2
> exams leaves no time
> whatsoever for the coursework. I have twice phoned
> AQA about this and
> received no reply. When I raised it at a training
> meeting, the guy in
> charge had no idea how this should be dealt with.
> Any thoughts on the matter?
>
> Thanks.
>
> David
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