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ocr a2 ethics exam

Last post 27/04/12 at 23:22 by delahay, 15 replies
Post started by san38 on 26/01/12 at 21:14

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    Posted by: san38 26/01/2012 at 21:14
    Joined on 18/02/2002
    Posts 476
    Anyone else have kids doing exam this week? I thought it was awful. The conscience question was so unfair - the spec doesn't juxtaposition this with sex at all & even I would not have wanted to answer the virtue question. Any thoughts?
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    Posted by: thomasdww 27/01/2012 at 10:12
    Joined on 06/03/2009
    Posts 18

    YES! I'm about to complain to OCR about this! I know that the mixture of conscience/free-will and applied ethics was part of the previous spec but nowhere on the current spec does it say that students will be required to answer a question on the two. We need to complain.

    http://www.ocr.org.uk/contactus/index.aspx

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    Posted by: san38 27/01/2012 at 10:56
    Joined on 18/02/2002
    Posts 476

    Thanks so much. I'm quite new to OCR and was feeling a bit incompetent! I will add my complain to yours. Thanks for the link

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    Posted by: clareicles 29/01/2012 at 14:25
    Joined on 20/11/2006
    Posts 115
    Hi, Could you post the questions, please? I didn't have any students do the A2 papers in January (luckily, by the sound of it) and I'd quite like to know what OCR asked so I can at least have time to prep my students if I can. I'm sure others would like to know too. Thanks in advance, Clareiclesx
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    Posted by: delahay 29/01/2012 at 16:42
    Joined on 18/06/2009
    Posts 48
    I used to teach the OCR ethics 6 years ago and then changed schools and have since taught Edexcel. I would certainly recommend the Edexcel board. I think the OCR is far too content heavy and there are just far too many different combinations of questions. The Edexcel doesn't have any applied ethics except Justice, Law and Punishment which I thoroughly enjoy teaching.Have a look at the spec. I think it is very fair and we have never had a results enquiry under edexcel.
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    Posted by: lam 29/01/2012 at 16:58
    Joined on 08/03/2005
    Posts 101
    I totally agree. We used to teach OCR but found the questions to be dodgy, the marking to be inconsistent and we were always worried about results. We made the switch to Edexcel several years ago now and have never looked back. There's less content to cover, the question paper is fairer and the marking to be more consistent. Make the move - you won't regret it :-)
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    Posted by: NoseyMatronType 30/01/2012 at 13:07
    Joined on 20/02/2009
    Posts 281
    If you have a moment, could you type out the offending question(s)? I'd really appreciate it. I didn't have any candidates sitting this paper but they will in the Summer.
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    Posted by: san38 31/01/2012 at 08:07
    Joined on 18/02/2002
    Posts 476

    Thanks all. Did used to be with Edexcel - found the anthology very dry and not suitable for not so able students. Think A level specs are due to change again soon and I will certainly be investigating them all! Nosey matron - these were the questions. I think 3&4 are awful - let me know what you think please

    1. all ethical lang is prescriptive. discuss

    2.critically assess the claim that freewill and determinism are compatible

    3. to what extent do modern versions of virtue ethics address the weaknesses of Aristotle's teaching on virtue?

    4. 'for moral issues surrounding sex the demands of conscience overide other ethical considerations' discuss.

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    Posted by: NoseyMatronType 31/01/2012 at 12:56
    Joined on 20/02/2009
    Posts 281

    San38,

                thanks for posting the questions. Although I have taught AS OCR Religious Ethics for 3 years, this is my first time through with A2 and I only picked up the class in January. So it's difficult for me to make a judgement call about a largely unfamiliar syllabus.

     Having said that, the last question would not be the sort I would have anticipated.

    Q3 presumably involves briefly outlining Aristotle's version of Virtue Ethics with an emphasis on its weaknesses followed by a discussion and evaluation of (I would imagine) MacIntyre.

    Even though my knowledge of Virtue Ethics is vague and in need of refreshment, I do recall that there is a quite devastating critique of this perspective in John Doris's book Lack Of Character. I'd need to check but I suspect that this critique would apply to both ancient and modern versions of Virtue Ethics. Roughly, Doris invokes famous experiments in social psychology (The Milgram Obedience to Authority studies and Zimbardo's Stanford Prison experiment) to argue that what we bring to the table in terms of virtues that we might claim to have cultivated fly out of the window if we find ourselves in the wrong kind of environment. So environment not character is the ultimate determinant of moral behaviour.

     If you type 'Five Steps to Tyranny' into youtube you will discover an excellent documentary that showcases the Milgram and Zimbardo studies.

    Doris's book is dense but well-written and readable.

     Hope this helps!

     

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    Posted by: thomasdww 02/02/2012 at 10:22
    Joined on 06/03/2009
    Posts 18

    Are there any teachers of the OCR spec who would have prepared students for question 4 in particular? If so, how important is the synoptic table that appears at the end of the spec on the OCR website?

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