au geography scholarship august 2013

GEOGRAPHY SCHOLARSHIPAUGUST 28TH 2013

Jane Evans

What is scholarship all about?

It is more than level 3

At level 3 the key command word is ‘Analyse”

At scholarship the key command word is “Critically analyse”

So What is the Difference? Analyse looks deeply into the facts

behind what you are studying in geography

You describe and explain You say what and why

Critically Analyse Critically Analyse goes further – not only do

you also look deeply into what you are studying geographically but you need to give some personal opinion on it.

I feel ….. because… The most significant issue in my opinion is .. I think there are benefits to this because.. You can look at the issue from this perspective

because …..

WHAT IS THE FORMAT? You are provided with 2 booklets – a

question paper and a resource booklet.

The resource booklet is on a theme – it will have case studies around the world to do with the theme.

You have to answer 3 questions – these may be 3 illustrated essays or 2 essays and a diagram with a written component.

How To Approach the Paper

So what must you do to get a good mark!!

Here we have the 10 step easy guide

ESTABLISH THE TOPIC

1. Look for the topic

Skim read the questions to see what you need to do and plan your attack! Ensure you realise what is in each question to avoid repeats.

Skim read the resource booklet to see what it contains

What is skim reading? Getting information quickly without

reading everything.

Examine before you read – look at the layout to see where likely to get info.

Establish which articles cover each of the questions.

READ THE QUESTION

S

2. Read the questions carefully Highlight the key instruction words

Ask yourself what does the question mean? Put it in your own words

Make sure you critically analyse:

You may also be asked to: - Justify Why do you think this – give

evidence to back up ideas - Critically Evaluate Which is the more

important? Why are the others not as good?

These should form the basis of your essay not a tack on at the end.

LOOK FOR KEY

WORDS

3. Look for other key words like: A. PERSPECTIVES (a way of looking at an issue)

- Social (people based) - Economic (money/business based) - Environmental - Political (governments) - Indigenous (local residents) - Scientific (fact based) - Other (sex, age, religion)

b. GENERAL GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE

Show what you know about geography. You must go beyond the resource material.

Think about: - Current issues - what you did in geo last year - what you have read about

DIAGRAMS

4. Is it an illustrated essay?

If so you must include a diagram of some type

- It should be original not copied from resources

- It should be appropriate to the answer - It should be referred to in the text not an

add on at end - It does not need to be complex – a simple

star diagram or converting a table to a graph is often sufficient.

READ RESOURCE

S

5. Now Read the appropriate resources Check to see if you are told which resources

to read for a particular question. If you are keep to these only.

Skim read it carefully – you will probably spent a good half hour reading this.

Highlight the appropriate resources in the resource booklet. A tip is to use a different coloured highlighter for each question.

Again use skim reading techniques: Establish what you are looking for as you

look over an article Read the introduction carefully as it sets the

layout of the article Read the first sentence of every paragraph Establish the main theme of the paragraph

and decide if it is vital to your answer. If it is read it carefully, if not jump to the next one.

Highlight the information as you find it.

PLAN

6. Plan your answer carefully Use the planning pages provided. This is

not wasted time.

Try to think of a good way to categorise the answer so that it flows well.

It needs: An introduction A Body A conclusion

SPECIFICS

7. Use the Resources Refer to specifics provided in the

resource booklet.

Extract information (but not too much) or state ‘as shown on p17’

WRITE YOUR

ANSWER

8. Start Writing your answer SHOW INSIGHT

You need to wow the person marking this. Show them you know geography. Use geographic terms and ideas. Do not use baby language (nice, good etc).

WATCH THE

CLOCK

9. Watch the time You will struggle to finish in time so be a

clock watcher!

Make the answer concise not full of waffle. The best answers are short and to the point.

FINISH THE PAPER

10. Finish the paper Each question is marked out of 8.

To pass you need 16-17 marks. This means the first 2 would have to be perfect to pass! It is not advised to run out of time or not attempt every question!