Advanced Higher Biology Project Discussion
I was wondering if anyone who has written this section would have any advice on how to?
I’ve already looked at the examples on the SQA website (now QS) but both the examples did not get marks for the evaluation of discussion. I have also looked at the course guidelines and the project specification and I can’t interpret what they are wanting me to write.
Reply 1
I was wondering if anyone who has written this section would have any advice on how to?
I’ve already looked at the examples on the SQA website (now QS) but both the examples did not get marks for the evaluation of discussion. I have also looked at the course guidelines and the project specification and I can’t interpret what they are wanting me to write.
Hello! Sorry for the massive delay in replying - I've been so busy recently - hopefully any advice is still a bit useful and your final project deadline hasn't passed yet lol.
The evaluation marks are notoriously difficult to get so what I would advise is if you could make absolutely sure that you have as many of the other "easy" marks in the bag that would be good.
Then, statistics are a great way to get some evaluation marks - so calculate the confidence interval, etc. And do some analysis of whether your results are statistically significant (this should not really need to be in your conclusion if you talk about it in your analysis you will get the marks there).
What I would do is look up the detailed marking instructions for teachers (some schools don't give it to candidates but you can find it online and it has much more guidance about what your project should include. What I did was go through each of the possible points for the evaluation. There are two main sections, evaluation of the procedures and the evaluation of the results (I think procedures marks are usually a bit easier but attempt both of them).
Procedures Evaluation
any of the following can be awarded marks
•
means by which accurate measurements were achieved/sources of error in measurement and their impact on the results
•
why the sample size was appropriate and how independent replication was achieved
•
how the controls contributed to the overall validity of the investigation
•
how confounding variables were controlled or monitored and their impact on the validity of results
•
solutions to problems and reasoning behind modifications to procedures in light of the pilot study
any of the following can be awarded marks
analysis of results
•
The candidate should discuss variation in results obtained from repeats and replicates, and the degree of accuracy of results. They can use statistical analysis to support this discussion, but this is not essential. Calculation(s) used in the analysis of the results must be correct.
•
The candidate should discuss the meaning of trends or differences observed in relation to the aim(s) and hypotheses. This discussion should consider the appropriateness of the procedure, the accuracy of the measurement, and the reliability of data.
•
The candidate should discuss the findings in relation to the biology discussed in the introduction and/or findings of other published research.
This is from the course document. Then I would just jot down ideas for what you could write for each of these points based on your experimental procedure and results. A lot of this for procedures will be from your notes in your lab book - think about your pilot study, what problems you had/overcame, why you made specific choices in your experimental design, etc. For results you should think about statistical significance and why you research is important (I know this sounds dumb but just think about what you wrote in your introduction and kind of relate it to wider research loosely and that should be good).
Hopefully that makes a bit of sense. You are right there is not much help online for this kind of thing - if you want to have a read of my biology project let me know - I think I got all of the procedures marks and one of the results marks (this is the hard one lol). So it might be a bit of help but the evaluation is very specific to your own project. Don't worry about it too much but hopefully this helped a bit.
Reply 3
The evaluation marks are notoriously difficult to get so what I would advise is if you could make absolutely sure that you have as many of the other "easy" marks in the bag that would be good.
Then, statistics are a great way to get some evaluation marks - so calculate the confidence interval, etc. And do some analysis of whether your results are statistically significant (this should not really need to be in your conclusion if you talk about it in your analysis you will get the marks there).
What I would do is look up the detailed marking instructions for teachers (some schools don't give it to candidates but you can find it online and it has much more guidance about what your project should include. What I did was go through each of the possible points for the evaluation. There are two main sections, evaluation of the procedures and the evaluation of the results (I think procedures marks are usually a bit easier but attempt both of them).
Procedures Evaluation
any of the following can be awarded marks
•
means by which accurate measurements were achieved/sources of error in measurement and their impact on the results
•
why the sample size was appropriate and how independent replication was achieved
•
how the controls contributed to the overall validity of the investigation
•
how confounding variables were controlled or monitored and their impact on the validity of results
•
solutions to problems and reasoning behind modifications to procedures in light of the pilot study
any of the following can be awarded marks
analysis of results
•
The candidate should discuss variation in results obtained from repeats and replicates, and the degree of accuracy of results. They can use statistical analysis to support this discussion, but this is not essential. Calculation(s) used in the analysis of the results must be correct.
•
The candidate should discuss the meaning of trends or differences observed in relation to the aim(s) and hypotheses. This discussion should consider the appropriateness of the procedure, the accuracy of the measurement, and the reliability of data.
•
The candidate should discuss the findings in relation to the biology discussed in the introduction and/or findings of other published research.
This is from the course document. Then I would just jot down ideas for what you could write for each of these points based on your experimental procedure and results. A lot of this for procedures will be from your notes in your lab book - think about your pilot study, what problems you had/overcame, why you made specific choices in your experimental design, etc. For results you should think about statistical significance and why you research is important (I know this sounds dumb but just think about what you wrote in your introduction and kind of relate it to wider research loosely and that should be good).
Hopefully that makes a bit of sense. You are right there is not much help online for this kind of thing - if you want to have a read of my biology project let me know - I think I got all of the procedures marks and one of the results marks (this is the hard one lol). So it might be a bit of help but the evaluation is very specific to your own project. Don't worry about it too much but hopefully this helped a bit.
Thank you so much! And don’t worry about that, I got an extension and my teacher is pretty chill about coursework because of the prelims and exams on the now.
This is definitely helpful! Thank you so much for replying 😀
This is definitely helpful! Thank you so much for replying 😀
Your welcome! All the best with your prelim and lmk if you have any other questions
Reply 5
I hope this finds you well.
I was just wondering if you might be willing to send me your biology project. My chosen topic is very similar to yours, and since your project did so well, I thought it would be really helpful to read through it if you’re comfortable sharing. No worries at all if not!
Thank you very much!
I hope this finds you well.
I was just wondering if you might be willing to send me your biology project. My chosen topic is very similar to yours, and since your project did so well, I thought it would be really helpful to read through it if you’re comfortable sharing. No worries at all if not!
Thank you very much!
DM'd you back x
Reply 7
Great, just DM’d you back as well!
Reply 8
The evaluation marks are notoriously difficult to get so what I would advise is if you could make absolutely sure that you have as many of the other "easy" marks in the bag that would be good.
Then, statistics are a great way to get some evaluation marks - so calculate the confidence interval, etc. And do some analysis of whether your results are statistically significant (this should not really need to be in your conclusion if you talk about it in your analysis you will get the marks there).
What I would do is look up the detailed marking instructions for teachers (some schools don't give it to candidates but you can find it online and it has much more guidance about what your project should include. What I did was go through each of the possible points for the evaluation. There are two main sections, evaluation of the procedures and the evaluation of the results (I think procedures marks are usually a bit easier but attempt both of them).
Procedures Evaluation
any of the following can be awarded marks
•
means by which accurate measurements were achieved/sources of error in measurement and their impact on the results
•
why the sample size was appropriate and how independent replication was achieved
•
how the controls contributed to the overall validity of the investigation
•
how confounding variables were controlled or monitored and their impact on the validity of results
•
solutions to problems and reasoning behind modifications to procedures in light of the pilot study
any of the following can be awarded marks
analysis of results
•
The candidate should discuss variation in results obtained from repeats and replicates, and the degree of accuracy of results. They can use statistical analysis to support this discussion, but this is not essential. Calculation(s) used in the analysis of the results must be correct.
•
The candidate should discuss the meaning of trends or differences observed in relation to the aim(s) and hypotheses. This discussion should consider the appropriateness of the procedure, the accuracy of the measurement, and the reliability of data.
•
The candidate should discuss the findings in relation to the biology discussed in the introduction and/or findings of other published research.
This is from the course document. Then I would just jot down ideas for what you could write for each of these points based on your experimental procedure and results. A lot of this for procedures will be from your notes in your lab book - think about your pilot study, what problems you had/overcame, why you made specific choices in your experimental design, etc. For results you should think about statistical significance and why you research is important (I know this sounds dumb but just think about what you wrote in your introduction and kind of relate it to wider research loosely and that should be good).
Hopefully that makes a bit of sense. You are right there is not much help online for this kind of thing - if you want to have a read of my biology project let me know - I think I got all of the procedures marks and one of the results marks (this is the hard one lol). So it might be a bit of help but the evaluation is very specific to your own project. Don't worry about it too much but hopefully this helped a bit.
Hi @MaryamMajick
Thank you for all of the tips! This is super helpful
I was wondering if you could send me your project too and if you could help me with a couple things regarding my project. I am really feeling the pressure this year and have quite bad anxiety for exams. So much appreciation for your help!
Thanks very much
Olivia
Thank you for all of the tips! This is super helpful
I was wondering if you could send me your project too and if you could help me with a couple things regarding my project. I am really feeling the pressure this year and have quite bad anxiety for exams. So much appreciation for your help!
Thanks very much
Olivia
I'll DM you about sending it to you.
What other things can I help with as they might be relevant to others here?
Reply 10
What other things can I help with as they might be relevant to others here?
A bit of a random question but did you use the Harvard or Vancouver citing method?
Thanks 🙂
Reply 11
Thanks 🙂
I always use Harvard because it's easier to move things around, with Vancouver you have keep track of which order you are referencing things in and make sure the right numbers correspond to the bibliography numbers. With Harvard you just include in text citation and the bibliography is alphabetic so you can shuttle no problem.
The Vancouver method is preferable for sciences I think so I am going to have to get over my aversion to numbers at some point if I want to continue writing/research but for now SQA will give you marks for either or so just pick the one you are most comfortable with.
Also: Please use a reference manager! I think MyBib is amazing but just to make your life easier instead of doing it all by hand, you can just import links there and check the information/formatting afterwards.
Reply 12
The evaluation marks are notoriously difficult to get so what I would advise is if you could make absolutely sure that you have as many of the other "easy" marks in the bag that would be good.
Then, statistics are a great way to get some evaluation marks - so calculate the confidence interval, etc. And do some analysis of whether your results are statistically significant (this should not really need to be in your conclusion if you talk about it in your analysis you will get the marks there).
What I would do is look up the detailed marking instructions for teachers (some schools don't give it to candidates but you can find it online and it has much more guidance about what your project should include. What I did was go through each of the possible points for the evaluation. There are two main sections, evaluation of the procedures and the evaluation of the results (I think procedures marks are usually a bit easier but attempt both of them).
Procedures Evaluation
any of the following can be awarded marks
•
means by which accurate measurements were achieved/sources of error in measurement and their impact on the results
•
why the sample size was appropriate and how independent replication was achieved
•
how the controls contributed to the overall validity of the investigation
•
how confounding variables were controlled or monitored and their impact on the validity of results
•
solutions to problems and reasoning behind modifications to procedures in light of the pilot study
any of the following can be awarded marks
analysis of results
•
The candidate should discuss variation in results obtained from repeats and replicates, and the degree of accuracy of results. They can use statistical analysis to support this discussion, but this is not essential. Calculation(s) used in the analysis of the results must be correct.
•
The candidate should discuss the meaning of trends or differences observed in relation to the aim(s) and hypotheses. This discussion should consider the appropriateness of the procedure, the accuracy of the measurement, and the reliability of data.
•
The candidate should discuss the findings in relation to the biology discussed in the introduction and/or findings of other published research.
This is from the course document. Then I would just jot down ideas for what you could write for each of these points based on your experimental procedure and results. A lot of this for procedures will be from your notes in your lab book - think about your pilot study, what problems you had/overcame, why you made specific choices in your experimental design, etc. For results you should think about statistical significance and why you research is important (I know this sounds dumb but just think about what you wrote in your introduction and kind of relate it to wider research loosely and that should be good).
Hopefully that makes a bit of sense. You are right there is not much help online for this kind of thing - if you want to have a read of my biology project let me know - I think I got all of the procedures marks and one of the results marks (this is the hard one lol). So it might be a bit of help but the evaluation is very specific to your own project. Don't worry about it too much but hopefully this helped a bit.
Reply 13
Yeah no problem if you DM me I can share it - in terms of UB, I think a lot of candidates make the mistake of looking for stuff in the AH course when the AH bio project is really not like that.
You are meant to do independent research, and it doesn't matter if it is more complex than what you have learnt so far, so long as it is at least AH level and relevant to your experiment it's good for UB.
I did Confidence Interval and I beleive I did calculate the standard deviation as part of that. I think it's more analysis than results, so I would include a simple results table and the a processed results table - should make sense once you see an example hopefully.
The evaluation of results is quite hard and not that many candidates get the marks for it so I wouldn't worry too too much, but my strategy was to go through the detailed marking instructions which you can find online and then bullet point something for each of the points they mention you can get marks for, kind of use the marking scheme as ideas. And then flesh out each of your ideas into a few paragraphs in total and that should be fine hopefully to give you a shot at some marks. If you can 2 or 3 of the evaluation marks usually that is really good, it is very rare to get all 5, so you're better off making sure you get all the "easy" marks - you can easily secure at least 20 marks just by doing the basics well.
Hope that helps!
Reply 14
You are meant to do independent research, and it doesn't matter if it is more complex than what you have learnt so far, so long as it is at least AH level and relevant to your experiment it's good for UB.
I did Confidence Interval and I beleive I did calculate the standard deviation as part of that. I think it's more analysis than results, so I would include a simple results table and the a processed results table - should make sense once you see an example hopefully.
The evaluation of results is quite hard and not that many candidates get the marks for it so I wouldn't worry too too much, but my strategy was to go through the detailed marking instructions which you can find online and then bullet point something for each of the points they mention you can get marks for, kind of use the marking scheme as ideas. And then flesh out each of your ideas into a few paragraphs in total and that should be fine hopefully to give you a shot at some marks. If you can 2 or 3 of the evaluation marks usually that is really good, it is very rare to get all 5, so you're better off making sure you get all the "easy" marks - you can easily secure at least 20 marks just by doing the basics well.
Hope that helps!
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