1. Questions about the Course and the Subject (FAQs)

  1. Do I need to do all of the activities in the modules and topics?

The modules and topics have been designed to guide you through your course in clear stages; they introduce you to each area of study and focus on each key element in turn, building up your knowledge and understanding so that you are equipped to complete the assignments as fully, and with as much detail, as possible. We therefore recommend that you do work through all of the activities and tasks listed, as they have been designed to help you achieve the best grade you can in the examinations.

  1. Can you recommend any books that could help me understand my course better?

Yes. A full list of these can be found in the Optional Further Reading List available in the General Resources section on Canvas.

  1. The Optional Further Reading List contains some books that are out of print. Why is this?

The majority of the texts on the reading list are still in print and widely available. However, there are some texts listed which are no longer in print which we have recommended because they are excellent resources. These may well be stocked in your local library and the vast majority of them can be purchased secondhand on Amazon very cheaply.

Just because a book is old doesn’t mean it isn’t useful and these resources have been included on the reading list because if you can get hold of them inexpensively, you will find they provide excellent background information.

  1. If I complete practice essays, will you mark them for me?

Unfortunately, we can only mark the course assignments. It is still valuable practice to complete timed essays and/or essay plans and to check these yourself though, applying the knowledge you have gained from your tutor’s feedback on your assignments and the generic mark schemes provided in the General Resources section on Canvas. You will also find specific tips on content in the examiners’ reports available in the Exam Preparation Materials at the end of the course.

  1. The CAIE mark schemes for Psychology give some answers to the questions, but sometimes they just describe the assessment objectives. What is the point of looking at these?

Mark schemes for Psychology don’t always contain the ‘answers’ because there are sometimes many ways to answer each question. They do, however, describe the factors an examiner needs to see to award a top mark, and you can use them to understand the difference between the grade boundaries and how top band grades differ from lower band grades.

You can see much more detailed information from examiners about what they expect to see in answers to each of the exam questions in the examiner’ reports from CAIE. These have been included in the Exam Preparation Materials at the end of the course.

We strongly recommend you look at these, as they will give you invaluable information about what examiners consider to be strong responses. Both the general advice given, and the question-specific comments, are very helpful.

  1. Can you send me examples of full-mark responses to each assignment?

Full-mark responses are very rare, but you can find a range of high-scoring examples of students’ work in the form of specimen answers for some of your assignments on Canvas and you should use these to help you improve your own skills, reflecting on what works well and how these relate to the mark schemes.

Where available, specimen answers are unlocked for you once you have completed your own assignment and it has been returned to you with feedback, by your tutor.

  1. Why don’t all of the assignments have Specimen Answers?

Where the syllabus or course is new or has recently been updated, we need to wait for students to produce a range of strong answers in order to add them as specimen answers. As soon as examples are ready, we will upload these to the course and announce them via Canvas.

  1. If I get a low grade for an assignment, can I resubmit it?

You can certainly re-write any assignments where you scored low marks and incorporating the feedback you received from your tutor can be a very useful revision exercise. We regret however that we cannot mark any assignment more than once, as once your first submission has been marked, you will have had access to the mark scheme and any specimen material.

  1. Why should I write my assignments by hand?

We recommend you do this so as to give you as much practice as possible of writing by hand, because unless you have special permission to use a word processor, this will be expected in the exams.

Many students use computers so much now that they are much slower when writing by hand than when typing and they are used to being able to copy and paste, or change things around if they don’t like them. This also means that a lot of students don’t think about their spelling or grammar, because of the autocorrect functions available on their laptops. These skills are very important in the real exams, where you are being marked on the clarity and coherence of your expression.

You need to get used to writing (and planning) by hand, so you are comfortable and efficient when doing so in your exams, so it is very important to get as much practice of this in as possible as early as possible. It is also useful for your tutor to see your handwriting in case there are any issues with this, about which you need to be aware before the exams. We recommend that you also make notes and practise writing essays by hand too, as every little helps.

  1. Can you recommend any online resources to help me with my studies?

We have provided links to numerous online resources to help you with a variety of aspects of your course and for each module. These are provided on Canvas and mentioned in the module pages. Any additions are mentioned in course announcements.

  1. Do I need to complete my assignments in exam conditions?

You should write your assignments according to the assessment objectives (details of which are provided in the generic mark schemes) and in the same style as you would use in the exam, but you may have access to your books and notes whilst completing the earlier assignments and you may take as long as you like. 

For AS Psychology, we recommend that you approach the assignments in the following manner to gain the best idea of your ability, your retention of the material and a more realistic grade:

    • Assignments One to Three can be completed using your notes and textbook and in as much time as you need.
    • Assignments Four to Ten should be treated as tests. Complete the module activities. Revise. When you are ready, allow 75 minutes and write your answers without looking at your notes or textbook etc. If you find a question you cannot answer, leave it and then, at the end, use your notes to answer it. Add a note on the assignment to the tutor to say you have done this.
    • If you run out of time – draw a line on the page and continue to answer the questions. Your tutor will not penalise you for taking more time – this is so that you can be a reflective learner and prepare for the conditions of the exams.

This means that you may not access your texts or notes, that you should not look at the paper before you take the test, and that you must complete your work in one sitting, and to time. This is a very important part of your revision and will allow you to test yourself and adjust your revision accordingly.

For AL Psychology, we recommend the following:

    • Assignments One to Three can be completed using your notes and textbook and in as much time as you need.
    • Assignments Four to Ten should be treated as tests. Complete the module activities. Revise. When you are ready, allow 75 minutes and write your answers without looking at your notes or textbook etc. If you find a question you cannot answer, leave it and then, at the end, use your notes to answer it. Add a note on the assignment to the tutor to say you have done this.
    • If you run out of time – draw a line on the page and continue to answer the questions. Your tutor will not penalise you for taking more time – this is so that you can be a reflective learner and prepare for the conditions of the exams.

We also recommend that you practise regular timed AS and AL exam papers as a regular part of your revision. You will find past papers in the Exam Preparation Module on Canvas and extra essay questions amongst the various course materials on Canvas and on the CAIE website.

  1. How does my assignment mark relate to the grades used in examinations?

Each assignment has 50 raw marks that are doubled to give a percentage mark (out of 100) on Canvas. For your assignments, the percentage mark relates approximately to grades as follows:

80% and above = A; 70% = B; 60% = C; 50% = D; 40% = E; 39% or less = Unclassified/ungraded. 

In reality, your overall examination grade will be based on several papers, so the grades here are just good guidelines for you to see how you are progressing. Worth noting though, is the fact that there are only 5 raw marks between grades for A grade downwards, so all marks are important. You should maximize your marks gained on short responses to ease the pressure on essay-style answers.

  1. I cannot find the answers to the question(s) on the assignments.

The answers will either be in your course textbook or in the materials (such as the PowerPoints) in the relevant module on Canvas. You will not be asked a question that you cannot answer. Make sure that you have studied all relevant parts of the course.

You can search for core studies online too as there are lots of good Psychology websites on the internet – look in General Resources for some links.

You may also find it helpful to look under Announcements for messages about helpful additional websites online.

  1. How long do my answers need to be?

For 2-mark questions, you should write approximately three sentences or more depending on what the question is asking. You can only achieve the second mark by expanding or explaining your answer. Aim to be writing for 2-3 minutes per answer.

For 9/10-mark questions on AS assignments you should write a mini-essay – so this means writing for about 12 minutes and producing at least three good sized paragraphs.

Often it is useful to use the PEC method – make a Point/issue, support with an Example/evidence from a relevant study, then make a Comment/evaluation point that links back to the issue of the question. Do this three times.

For AL answers, you will often need to focus very carefully on research methods and give details of how you could conduct a study (usually 10 marks) or discuss a particular issue (usually 8-10 marks). For the latter, the PEC method may still work. 

For any questions involving research methods, you should think of it as giving a recipe to a reader, instructing them how to conduct the research (what, where, who, when, how etc.) These types of answers should take about 10 minutes, whereas 10-mark discussions should take approximately 13 minutes.

The key to good answers is demonstrating to the examiner that you have the relevant knowledge and understanding of the subject, so it is vital that you include psychological material (even when giving an example, you should make it relevant to Psychology). Make sure too that you have clearly answered the question.

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