Lesson video

Hi everybody and welcome to today's lesson.

Today we're gonna be looking at exam technique specifically for the six-mark questions.

Now these questions appear typically at the end of each paper, so hence why I'm saying these, 'cause it's very normal to get one towards the end of Paper 1 and one towards the end of Paper 2.

Now we are gonna therefore explore some topics from both those papers today, but look specifically on how we can attack these questions with confidence and look at some simple strategies that can help us answer these questions.

And in doing so, realise that these are not awful and they're not really, really challenging.

They're just a little bit different than the other questions that we might have before this when we look at our exam papers.

So grab a bit of pen and paper 'cause you might need that and let's look at some of those quick strategies or simple strategies we could try and use to really help us answer these questions well.

The aim of today's lesson is where we're gonna look very much at those skills, and those skills are largely AO3 based and that will then support us in how we approach this six-mark question.

And what we're really looking to do is really elevate your confidence so that you can attack these and hopefully use those skills in the right way.

Now those skills are also our keywords.

So throughout today's lesson we're gonna look at analyse and we have a description of analyse there.

We've got discuss, we have evaluate, and we also have justify.

Now in essence this is almost a little bit of a to-do list for us as we move through the lesson 'cause each one of these words and then skills we're gonna talk about them one at a time, so it might be that you want to pause the recording at this point and take a note of those.

But as we move through the lesson, we will be revisiting these key meanings and therefore the key skill required for these words.

So our lesson is gonna be broken into three parts in order to capture those four skills.

In the first part of the lesson, we're gonna talk about the four of them and look at some strategies to help us understand what that word and that skill is.

We'll develop that where we specifically look at justify.

Then we will go into the second part of the lesson where we'll hone in on the evaluate and the discuss questions, and then we'll finish with the analyse.

But you can see there how our lesson is broken up.

We're making sure that we have a go at all four of our keywords, our key commands and our key skills.

So, Lucas is starting us off by already saying he notices that when he looks at some six-mark questions, they always start with an AO3 command word.

He's absolutely right there.

And then what he's noticed is that command word is either analyse, discuss, evaluate, or justify.

So I think that's a really accurate observation from Lucas and one why we are using those four as our key feature of today.

Because these are the commands that are used typically in the six-mark question.

So what that means is is when we look at that extended question, the skill that we are then using is very much determined by that command word.

And Aisha's just saying here, well, aren't they all the same if basically you need to give the opinion and then come to a conclusion? And I'm pleased that Aisha shared that with us because I do think that's a common misconception, that the AO3 in our six-mark questions is very much that, we have to give opinion and we have to come to a conclusion.

Now there is an element of that depending on the command word, so actually I'm gonna say to Aisha here that, no, that's not quite the case.

Each command requires a slightly different skill.

And if we know what that skill is, that's a real support for us so we then go on and answer the question well.

So understanding that is where we're gonna start in our first part of our lesson, and then I'm gonna give you the opportunity to practise those skills to really help you with those questions.

But I'm aware that that practise will go beyond today and you will then have hopefully that skill in mind whenever you're doing that practise beyond this lesson.

So Aisha, like I imagine you might be feeling now, is that, you know, she feels that that's good to know because then she realises that if I really understand the difference in these four command words, I then should know what's expected of me in that question.

And to help Aisha with that, and you, we're gonna look at some code letters.

Now our letters are here.

Now what these letters do is they make it slightly easier to remember our description.

So our description was the ones that I shared with you when we looked at those keywords.

So let's just look at what each of these code letters are.

The S is what helps us with justify.

Why have we chosen S? Well, the keyword there is we have to support a case with evidence, so that S is a good strategy to remind us that that's what our skill is.

If we are being asked to justify, we are being supportive in our opinion.

Now that's slightly different for evaluate in that we're gonna go with that code letter J.

Now our description here for evaluate is we make a judgement , we judge from available evidence.

Often to get to that judgement we may have had to weigh up the positives and the negatives, but ultimately we're coming to that conclusion, we're coming to a judgement.

So already you can probably see there there's a slight difference from that evaluate to what we just said about justify.

For I, this is a good code letter for analyse.

Now with analyse you have to break up your answer, you have to break up the information, and there is some element of identification, so you're identifying something.

But the skill, the AO3 skill in this instance is that you then provide impact.

So that I is a good reminder of that identification but mainly given that impact.

And finally we've had a little bit of an extra word here, we're gonna have two for discuss, and those two code letters are S and W.

And our description for discuss is where we have to give key points, but of those key points in the idea we have to provide strengths and weaknesses.

So that S and double, W, sorry, reminds us very much of having to give strengths and weaknesses.

Very similar to evaluate.

But I hope what you're seeing on that slide there, and again you might wanna pause and take a note of that, is how our keywords, our key commands all have their individual description, and by us adding a code letter that is just reminding us about what that skill is for that command.

Are we being supportive? Are we making a judgement ? Are we providing impact? Or are we looking to give strengths and weaknesses? And we are going to be able to practise that at different points throughout today's lesson.

Let's just have a quick check of our code letters then.

We can see here the question is, which is the code letter for analyse? I'll give you five seconds to decide.

Well done if you went with I, and we need to just remind ourselves what that I represents.

And Sofia is helping us here because that I is impact.

Okay, let's just have another check on these.

We've got a true or false question here.

The discuss skill means the strengths and weaknesses of an idea are presented.

Do we think that's true or false? Well done if you agree that that actually is true.

Why is that true? Well, remember we said that that S and W is reminding us that the answer if we get given that command is we do need to give strengths and weaknesses to the context of the question.

So now we've introduced our four skills, we're gonna hone in specifically on justify for this next part of the lesson.

And just to remind us that, the question will make a suggestion and our skill is to support this with our knowledge of the topic and the sporting context.

So we are using that opinion but we're being supportive in that opinion and we will use the knowledge and the sport within the question to be able to express that opinion.

So let's take an example of that.

Here's a six-mark question, you may recognise it from Paper 1 content.

And what's being asked here is to justify the importance of balance and reaction time for a goalkeeper in football.

So we can see that command of justify, we know it's a six-mark question, and the suggestion there is that those two fitness components are important, particularly for the context of a goalkeeper.

So our knowledge is balanced reaction time, we're applying specifically to a goalkeeper, and then we've gotta be supportive in our statement.

And just look at those four purple words there.

We've got that know, we've got that apply, and now we have, and to finish with, sorry, we have that say why.

And in this instance, that say why is all around support.

So here's our question again.

We can see in the image there of the context, so we can see a goalkeeper making a save at that very moment it looks, and the ball looks like it's not gonna go in the goal and the hand is very much behind the ball to stop that.

What I'm gonna ask you to do, and you might want to just pause and take a note of the question, and before we actually even look at how we're gonna answer it, we're gonna dissect it.

We're gonna look for that know, apply, and that say why.

And we're gonna use a really simple strategy called BUC, in terms of B-U-C.

So you can see there that I'm almost gonna encourage you to box the command word, so draw a box or a rectangle around the command word, underline the knowledge, and then circle the sport and the context.

And hopefully what you've done is exactly this.

You've drawn a box around "justify," you've underlined "balance" and "reaction time," and then you've circled the context in this instance and it's not just football, it's being really position-specific to a goalkeeper in football.

And even better, if we now add our code letter, really simply put an S to remind ourselves that our skill at this point is we're going to support a case.

So in this instance the case is that those two things are important when you play that position in football.

So in terms of how we might structure a response to this, our know, apply, say why rhyme is really helpful because what that tells us is, well, the first part of the rhyme is know, so we could just provide that definition of balance.

Then that apply, if we wanna kind of see that as like the next step, we'd link balance to some examples from a goalkeeper.

And then that say why is, well, we've been told it's important so we're gonna back up that statement.

Why is it important? Why have they got that really good balance? Will that be a good thing for them when they're playing football? So this is know, apply, say why rhyme might help you, as will seeing it in this kind of strategy.

So you can see how they almost look like steps, so they're reminding you of the steps that you take to be able to answer this well and therefore hopefully achieve as many marks as you can.

So we will probably start with that bottom step of that knowledge, so I'm not quite sure when you last learned this topic, but you're probably looking at that now and thinking, "I remember that, that's the key definition of balance." And it's got those two types in there, the fact that you can have that maintenance of your centre of mass when you're still, when that's static, but also that's needed sometimes when you're moving, which is dynamic.

Now for example, an application of that is then more on that dynamic balance when that keeper, if they're playing, if there's a corner, they have to go and try and catch that ball from the corner to stop the attackers scoring.

So that's a really good example from our position-specific goalkeeper.

And then if they've got that good dynamic balance, why it's important is, well, they're not gonna fall over and that then means that they're gonna take that catch nice and clean, and as a result of that they shouldn't spill the ball.

And you know, we use that term sometimes that if the ball comes out of their hands, that's been spilled, and that then means that, you know, some of the opposition could maybe then try and score 'cause they can get their foot on the ball and push it into the net.

Now if they make that clean catch by having that good dynamic balance, that is stopping that.

So what we're saying there is we're being supportive, that say why is capturing that justify skill.

Now as you've just heard me give an example there from a corner, could you think of when balance is important for other examples as a goalkeeper in football? What you might wanna do at this point is do that for some other sports, not just football.

Now I wonder if any of these were ones that you considered.

So, for example, taking a goal kick.

Maybe when you're actually having to make a save.

Do you possibly need that balance when you're one-on-one with a striker, i.

e.

the striker's beaten the defence and you're that last line and you're trying to stop that goal.

But look at how that's presented.

We've got our knowledge, we know our definition, but we're using our steps again to almost think, okay, I will give that apply and then I'll say why.

Apply, say why; apply, say why.

And you might wanna pause this now and just think, what would you write for those question marks? How would you then suggest that if you've got that balance when taking a goal kick, why that's important in that position? And please, please, don't be afraid to quote the obvious 'cause we know ultimately the outcome of a goalkeeper is that they're trying to stop the opposition scoring or be that last line of defence or support their team at the start to then make sure they maintain possession.

Now quick check at this point, though.

We have three students here, all of which have attempted to do this skill.

One of them is actually justifying, so I would like you to work out which one you think that is.

Now Aisha is saying that if the keeper had dynamic balance, they would not fall over when they kicked the ball.

Sam is starting to say that flexibility is more important for a goalkeeper because then you've got that nice range of movement in your shoulder joint to be able to reach the ball.

Andeep is doing something similar actually and he is saying, well, yeah, as well as that, coordination is also important 'cause you have to move and catch the ball at the same time.

Now one of those is doing our skill of justification.

Five seconds to kind of work out which one you think that is.

Absolutely, well done, it's Aisha.

Aisha is supportive there.

We definitely see that justification of the say why in that if they have got that dynamic balance, they're not gonna fall over.

She could have extended that even more by saying that means that the ball hopefully will go to where it needs to go so that that possession can be maintained for their team.

Interestingly, Sam and Andeep were both evaluating.

Alright, so they were providing judgements, they were providing alternatives to balance and reaction time, whereas Aisha was the one that was justifying.

We will move on to some evaluation.

So our know, apply, say why paragraph, if we now see this in an answered form, you would get our definition.

Then you'd get our apply, say why.

And we can see there this one's just referenced the making a save and why that's important.

And then another apply, say why.

In this instance it could be that one-on-one with a striker and then that say why.

And look really simply how by just using language such as "this is important because" we're showing that we're being supportive and we're acknowledging that say why for this context.

So we've done lots of work there on balance and know, apply, say why, but our question also had reaction time.

So this leads us nicely onto our first task in that I would like you to create a plan using that know, apply, say why, but this time for reaction time.

And when that plan is in place, that should allow you to construct a know, apply, say why paragraph specifically for reaction time.

So pause the recording and come back to me when you're ready.

Okay, welcome back.

Did your plan look something like this? And I'm very aware that you could have picked upon different examples.

But the key thing we're taking from this is knowing that we have that bottom step, that starting point of the knowledge, and then that apply, say why.

Apply, say why, apply, say why allows us to see that you can apply it specifically to the right context, but more importantly fulfil that command, that skill of justifying being supportive.

So on there we can see we've got penalty save, perhaps deflection, or maybe a shot that's made at very close range.

And how we write this I know is very individual to us but what we're seeing on the slide here, and you might wanna pause to just maybe make some comparisons to the one that you've written, is we've got that definition down and then we've got that example.

And before we go onto the next example by using that really simple language of "this is important because" allows you to get that say why.

Likewise by saying so, alright? And we don't wanna be afraid to quote the obvious because really what our goalkeeper's trying to do with that really good reaction time is stop that ball going into the goal and then therefore losing a goal.

So really well done on having a go at our first know, apply, say why, but also understanding that that justified command and skill is all about that S for support.

So whilst we are now in that frame of mind, we're gonna go onto the second part of the lesson but look at how that might work specifically for evaluate and discuss questions.

So let's move on to Paper 2 this time and our topic is guidance.

We can see here we've got a six-mark question and the command is evaluate and we're being asked to evaluate the use of visual and mechanical guidance, sorry, it's manual guidance, for a beginner in swimming.

First task for us is, how would we BUC that? Remember that BUC is boxing the command, underlining the knowledge, and then circling the sport and the context.

Hopefully you boxed "evaluate." Our J is already there to remind us that that is about judgement.

We would underline "visual and manual guidance." So a bit like the balance and reaction time, that makes us think, okay, there's two sections to this question.

And then the context there, again, it's not just the sport of swimming, but this is asking specifically about a beginner in swimming.

So why was our J there? Which of the following of these is the correct description of evaluate? Is it A, B, C, or D? Well done, that J, remember, is what represents judgement.

So what the skill we're now working on is, can we look at some positives and negatives of that guidance and in doing so come to a judgement for a beginner in swimming? So for example, if we were doing the know, we would perhaps say what visual guidance is in the same way we did the definition of balance and reaction time.

This is just that starting point to show we know the topic and the content.

For a beginner in swimming, often that is someone on the side of the pool, a teacher, a coach, who's trying to show them what that arm action or what that leg action or how they should be whilst in the water.

So I want you to look at that bit on there and think that's really specific to a beginner and what that type of guidance might look like, in the same way we were doing that to our goalkeeper earlier.

So that's the know and the apply.

Good checkpoint for you now though is, when you've learned about that type of guidance, what would be your say why? Why would that be positive for a beginner? But what are the possible negatives too? Now you could have said for the positive that it's good because it leads to that mental image.

That means they're getting an appreciation and an understanding of the correct technique, and in doing so they can hopefully copy that and then develop an understanding of how to actually do that skill.

So there's some positives there.

But I'm sure we've all been in that position of a beginner and sometimes when we're trying to watch something it can be difficult to process all the information.

I imagine that's even more challenging when you're in an environment such as water.

So we've got a really good example there of a however, you might not be able to process all that information and then you can't copy it correctly and that's gonna lead to some errors or some misunderstanding.

Now in terms of our confidence with evaluate, look at some of those words there in green.

And what this is demonstrating is how we could simply use a word such as ITCH.

Now it's got nothing to do with guidance or exam technique but it's a really good go-to word and more hopefully a memorable one that you might think is beneficial for you to use when you're looking at developing this skill of evaluate.

Now what that ITCH, or what each of these letters represents is the I is it leads to, the T is therefore, the C is causing, and the H is doing that negative or that counter evaluation and that's the however.

And that might just be a really suitable guide to help you develop the AO3 in your six-mark answers.

So let's think about the other side of that question.

It was, remember, the question was visual and manual guidance.

What does manual guidance lead to? Well, it could be that we say, well, the swimmer feels afloat, so they get that feeling of, if someone's got their hand underneath them, for example, they understand like how they're meant to stay afloat with that correct body position and they then feel safe.

Well, let's develop that even more, it's almost like a so here.

Well, if you're in that position 'cause someone's holding you in that position or using that physical guide, the therefore there is you're able to practise that leg kick correctly.

Well, what's that gonna cause? Well, I imagine in most cases, 'cause you feel safe and you're in that right body position, you're gonna have that increased confidence and you're gonna want to carry on because of how that's making you feel.

What's the counter evaluation to that, though? What's possibly something that's not so good about manual guidance? And I imagine you're all probably thinking it or shouting at the screen and saying it does involve that physical touch.

Manual guidance is that type of guidance where the hand is used to guide and therefore, it's not always the hand but in this instance it is, that might make the swimmer feel a bit uncomfortable because of that physical touch.

You could develop that even further that they then don't want to or they aren't motivated to continue to practise that skill.

Okay, so in the same way we did for justify, let's just have a quick check here.

Which student at this point is using this strategy of ITCH in order to evaluate? Laura is saying, "It leads to less fear in the water to be able to learn to swim." Jun is just saying, you know, it makes us more confident.

Sam is saying, "It leads to the swimmer feeling the correct body position, therefore.

." Absolutely, it's Sam, 'cause what Sam's done here is thought I'm going to continue to develop it in terms of that say why, and ITCH is a strategy that some of you could consider to help you do that.

So let's see this now in its developed paragraph form.

We've got our know, so what the visual guidance is.

We've got our apply, how that links specifically to a beginner in swimming.

And then that use of ITCH in terms of why that's good.

If we put that together with our manual that we've just worked through, we've got our knowledge of what manual is, that physical touch.

We've got that example of, you know, a coach or an instructor being in the water and using the hand in that same way to get in that streamlined position.

And then we've got our ITCH of what that leads to and our however 'cause we're meeting that skill of evaluate.

Look at this bit as well, this last little bit, this last sentence.

This answer here is showing us that mechanical guidance might be more suitable because a beginner may prefer to use a noodle or a float, and that might allow them to not feel as uncomfortable by using that kind of aid.

So on an answer like that we would get those full marks because we're showing knowledge of both types of guidance, the application is clear and effective to a beginner in swimming, and the evaluation is thorough.

That ITCH has made it thorough and we've reached that valid judgement or that valid conclusion.

Now Lucas is actually saying here, would we do the same for a discuss question? And I think that's a really good question 'cause ultimately yes is the answer there, because, remember, discuss is very much giving those strengths and weaknesses of an idea.

With evaluate, though, you might still have to maybe provide that alternative.

And we saw that didn't with our mechanical guidance.

So when Lucas now says, "Would I do anything different for evaluate?" I think that's the difference, or that's what I want you to feel confident with the difference.

You would offer it for evaluate.

Whereas discuss, as it says at the bottom there, you would very much just stay on your strengths and weaknesses of that topic, but that ITCH approach might actually get you to kind of develop those strengths but also offer those weaknesses.

Which is a really nice lead into our second task where we've now got, still on the topic of guidance, this time we've got verbal and mechanical, but the command is discuss, and the our context now is a beginner in trampolining.

So there are three parts to this task.

The first one is what we should be always doing on a six-mark question, and that's BUC-ing it, so dissecting the key parts.

Then we're gonna look to develop our know, apply, say why paragraphs.

And in the say why, you might wanna consider that ITCH to develop your AO3, develop your opinion to show those strengths and weaknesses.

Pause the recording and come back to me when you're finished.

Welcome back, how did you all do? In terms of BUC, did you box "discuss," underline "verbal and mechanical," and circle "a beginner in swimming"? And our code letter was S and W.

In terms of the answer, you might want to pause the recording at this point and make a comparison of this answer to the one that you've written.

Just notice, though, we've got those two know, apply, say why approaches and that use of ITCH to develop the strengths and weaknesses of those types of guidance.

And finally, our fourth command or keyword is analyse.

So for this last part of the lesson, we're gonna continue to develop our know, apply, say why, but look specifically at that skill of analyse.

Lucas says here quite rightly that, for analyse, that key skill is impact.

And just to remind you from that first part of the lesson, it is very much where you will identify characteristics and then you'll provide impact on the context of the question.

So if we revisit some Paper 1 content, we have a six-mark question here.

We can see from the images we've got an ice bath and we've got someone completing some stretches, look like they're static stretches, as part of a cool down.

So the question is, analyse how an ice bath and a cool down can support performance of a rugby player.

So, first check after looking at this question, which of the following is correct? Is it A, that the knowledge is recovery methods? Is it B, the application is a football player? And is it C, that the analysis is to make that judgement from available evidence? Well done, actually the knowledge area is that Paper 1 content of the recovery methods.

But this is useful for us to know at this point because very often you might just apply to a sport that you feel confident in.

But in this question, that can't be the case.

And we know football often gets used in that way, but this question is about rugby and that analysis is not making that judgement.

That's evaluate, we're now looking at impact.

And I wonder how many of you BUC-ed the question? 'Cause we're trying to encourage that, that's a good skill to do on every six-mark question.

If you didn't, now might be the time to do it, reminding ourselves that we would box "analyse," we would underline "ice bath and cool down" as our recovery methods, and we would circle "a rugby player." What would be our code letter that we would add? Absolutely, it would be the I for impact.

And I think this is a good word to notice.

So we're being told it's about how it would support performance, so this is all about impact on that rugby player when they are performing.

It's not about making judgement , it's about how that would support.

So if we go back to our infographic, a plan for the ice bath part of the question could be where you would first of all describe the ice bath.

We don't want that to dominate the response 'cause we know we've got to build to that apply and say why.

You might need to just acknowledge in terms of the application why a rugby player would need an ice bath.

And then the big step is that impact.

How would that support performance for a player? Now Alex here has actually started the impact section of the say why.

And he started quite nicely with, "The impact of an ice bath is it can lead to a reduction in swelling." That's the good part and often for a rugby player, given the bruising and the contact and the inflammation from playing, that ice bath is good at reducing those things.

So I think this is a good place to start.

But if we had to develop that, why is that good? Why would that support performance? And our strategy here, our skill is considering how we would develop that impact.

So could it be, we go back to some of our ITCH, but we might not need the however.

Maybe it's just that we consider some of those as really good connectives.

So that reduction in swelling does lead to less bruising.

That means for a rugby player they aren't gonna feel the pain next day and therefore, if they're back in training, they're gonna be able to be at their optimal or their maximum performance.

That's really good impact.

It could be that you talk about that it really, it speeds up that repair of those microtears in the muscles.

We know about DOMS, delayed onset of muscle soreness.

So by having that ice bath, the impact there is you're less likely to experience it, so muscle recovery is quicker.

Look at how some of those connectives that we've already shared in this lesson are really beneficial here.

It might be that you just want to use the word so twice or even three times to just develop that impact.

Thanks, Alex.

What Alex is saying here is he can see the impact, he can see how this is very much specific to a rugby performer and how that's good and supportive for their performance.

Now our plan for the cool down would follow the exact same format.

We'd have to give a brief description of it.

We may wanna talk about when a rugby player will complete that cool down.

And then we need to consider what's the impact.

So again, back to our students, which of these is now analysing the cool down? Aisha is saying it gives you a chance to develop flexibility in the shoulder so you're better at tackling.

Sam is giving a however in terms of the fact that you also need to eat some more protein to help with that muscle repair.

And Andeep is saying that it stops blood pooling and that means that the player's not gonna feel dizzy specifically at the end of the game.

Five seconds to decide which student is doing their analysis.

Absolutely, it is Aisha and Andeep.

Both of those are giving impact, I for impact.

You may have identified, though, that Sam has given a really valid point there, but that would be more judgement in terms of offering an alternative.

The question here was very much about supporting performance.

So, to finish with, our last task.

Could we complete that six-mark answer and add the analysis? Now what we're gonna do is the know, sorry, this is our question, just as a reminder.

Here's our rugby player.

The know and the apply have already been completed, so we've got basically the start of the first two paragraphs.

You will notice though there's some gaps, and that is for you to add the impact and consider some of those connectives that will help you to develop that for a rugby player so it's supportive for them and their performance.

Pause the recording and come back to me when you have done this.

Welcome back, how did you do? There are some examples here on the next two slides.

Again, this is not the only thing you could have written and you may have written it in a slightly different way, but I would just encourage you to pause the recording and look at how this has been developed with some of those connectives to show that development of impact for our rugby player.

So we've got an example there of the ice bath.

And this is a similar one but for the cool down.

You put both of those together and I'm sure yours is just the same, and then you need to give a massive congratulations to yourself that you've then written a very coherent and well-balanced six-mark answer.

So, in summary, we've done lots there by capturing all those four skills, but we've done that because we've recognised that for our six-mark questions we may get analyse and we need to recognise that as identify and giving impact.

If it's discussed, it's providing those strengths and weaknesses.

Evaluate is similar in terms of reaching that judgement by weighing up positive and negatives and offering an alternative if relevant.

We saw that with our guidance and offering mechanical as a suitable alternative.

And then finally, that justifying that S and being supportive of that case by providing evidence from the context.

So lots done.

I've really enjoyed taking you through these six-mark strategies and techniques.

What we did in all three parts of the lesson is very much that know, apply, say why, and saw that as an approach to build that effective answer when these are marked holistically using level descriptors.

So thank you for joining me and hopefully that will be really beneficial for you as you now continue to practise your answers to these six-mark questions.

I really look forward to seeing you on the next lesson.