GCSE Coursework.

COURSEWORK GUIDELINES.

Task 1: Investigation.

This piece of coursework contributes to 10% of your final mark. (Later you will have to complete a Data Handling project that will also count for 10%).

You will be awarded marks for each of three strands, or areas of assessment; a mark for "Making and Monitoring Decisions", a mark for "Communicating Mathematically" and a mark for "Developing Skills of Mathematical Reasoning".

1. Making and Monitoring Decisions.

Explain the problem and what you are trying to find out. Explain clearly the way in which you tackle the problem; remember to check your method and change your approach if necessary. You should explain why you chose a particular strategy.

If possible, you could think of an extension to the original problem. Do not try to think of a really complicated extension, a simple one will do.

2. Communicating Mathematically.

This is the way you explain your work. Make sure that your work is clear and easy to read. Use tables, charts or graphs if appropriate. Explain your work in full sentences; use diagrams to illustrate what is difficult to explain in words.

Remember that it is essential to use mathematical language and symbols. If you introduce symbols (e.g. x, y etc.) explain clearly what these symbols represent. Use algebra to describe formulae or rules; if you find this too difficult, explain the rule in words.

You could divide your work into sections with headings.

3. Developing Skills of Mathematical Reasoning.

To score a high mark in this strand, you must be logical in your approach. If appropriate start with a simple case and build up to more complex ideas. Always try to give a reason for what you believe to be true, and always check your work. Remember to write down your ideas and methods: explain how you checked your calculations. Any formulae you produce should be checked, and justified.

Useful phrases:

I am going to investigate .....

I will try to spot patterns in .....

In this investigation I am trying to find out .....

The investigation deals with ......

I will consider /look at......

I am going to examine ........

I have decided to look at ...... first , because .......

I will start by looking at ..... , and then ......, because .....

The diagrams below show/ illustrate that .....

The table that follows ....

I have collated my results in the following table .....

I think that ..... because.....

I predict that ..... because.....

My hypothesis is that ......

From the above work it is clear that ......

Following the above argument, it is clear that .....

My argument proves that .....

It is obvious from my results/diagrams that .....

All the figures appear to be ......

The following example shows that .....

The example below confirms that .....

I will check my prediction/hypothesis .....

I am convinced that .......

This task is completed after the year 10 examinations.

DATA HANDLING TASK:

INVESTIGATING TEXT IN NEWPAPERS.

Planning the task.

Checklist.

Introduction

What is the task about?

Hypothesis

What do you think are the differences between the two papers?

Plan of action

What data do you need to collect?

How much data will you collect?

How will you choose your sample?

How will your choice of sample ensure that the data is reliable and not biased?

How will you record the data?

Will you group data?

What will you do with the data collected?

What calculations will you make?

What graphs will you draw to represent the data?

What do you hope your calculations will show?

Collecting, processing and representing the data.

Checklist.

Do you have suitable papers?

Do you have suitable articles?

How are you recording the data as it is being collected?

Have you collected the data you planned to collect?

Are there any difficulties in collecting the data?

Are you displaying the data in a clear way?

Have you labelled your tables?

Have you described what each table shows?

Have you recorded the data in a clear order?

Are you carrying out the calculations planned?

Have you checked the accuracy of your calculations?

Have you used the correct term? (eg mean)

Have you described what each calculation shows?

Do the calculations support your theory?

Have you drawn the graphs in your plan?

Have you included a title?

Have you labelled the axes, bars etc?

Is your work neat?

Have you used a sharp pencil?

Have you explained what each diagram shows?

Interpreting and discussing data.

Checklist.

Have you summarised your results?

Have you commented on all your results?

Have you referred back to your original thoughts?

Do the results in total support your hypothesis?

If not why do you think this happened?

Was your data representative of the whole paper?

Was the paper representative of its type?

If you carried out the investigation again, what would you change?

How could the investigation have been developed further?

This task is completed after the Year 11 Mock examinations.