Teaching and assessing Paper 1
Paper 1 is still a source paper based on a topic/theme which students study in advance.
However, the format of the questions has changed quite significantly.
See below for an overview of these changes and assessment guidelines.
Content and activities for Paper 1 can be found under the ‘student access pages new guide’ tab at the top of the page and then in the ‘student e-book’.
The full source papers and markschemes for each paper are under the ‘Assessment’ section for students - though students cannot see the papers unless you allow them to!
Content
There are 5 new themes - known as Focused Studies:
- Climate and innovation
- Independence and identity
- Political and economic transitions
- Conflict and displacement
- Protest and change
Each Focused Study contains two examples and both must be studied (see table below); only one will be the focus of the examination paper.
- Each example has three inquiry questions e.g. To what extent did economic factors cause mass displacement from Vietnam?
- For each inquiry question there are three bullet points of content
Assessment
- The paper is worth 24 marks. This is 30% of the exam for SL students and 20% of the exam for HL students
- The Paper is 1 hour and 15 minutes long.
- Suggested time distribution is:
10-15 minutes reading the sources and questions.
Question 1: 15 minutes
Question 2: 15 minutes
Question 3: 30 minutes
Format of examination paper
This is where the most change has taken place.
- There will be three sources in the exam. These will be a mixture of primary and secondary; they may also include a pictorial source. Each source will be preceded by the context in which the source was produced (e.g. who wrote the source, when, why)
- There will be three questions which always follow the same format and which link to a given inquiry question e.g. (for FS1)
- This IQ will be based on an area of content in the syllabus; the sources and questions will be focused on this specific question (e.g. the inquiry question on the practice full source paper, which we have given for those students studying the Aztecs, is To what extent was the continued expansion of empire and tribute system necessary in order to feed and supply the city of Tenochtitlan?).
Explain how the content of both Source A and B can be used to answer the inquiry question [6 marks]
This requires students to identify content from both sources that can be used to answer the inquiry question. Note that a ‘range’ of content from the sources has to be used for the top markband - there is no specific number of points that students have to cover.
2. Analyse how the context of Source C influences how it can be used to answer the inquiry question [6 marks]
This is where students will use their understanding of context - the origin, purpose, content of the source to analyse how useful it could be to historians answering the inquiry question.
They will be given a few lines of context at the start of the source to help them in their analysis.
Question 3
Examine how the perspectives in all the sources can be used to answer the inquiry question. [12 marks]
Each source will be from a different ‘perspective’ or point of view.
Students will need to explain the different perspectives and how each one could be helpful to answering the inquiry question. The context, given at the top of each source will help them in their analysis. Students will also need to compare the perspectives in this question.
In all of the above question, students will also need to apply their knowledge and understanding of the focused study.
All answers should be in full sentences and paragraphs - not in bullet points (the markschemes are always in bullet points but that is to give examiners the range of points that could be covered in any answer)
- There are still 5 ‘themes’ containing two examples, or ‘focused studies’ as they are now called; these will be from different regions as before.
- The exam will focus on only one of the focused studies so both must be studied.
- The students will still need to apply their knowledge and understanding of the focused study to their answers
- They will still be using the same source skills as before in terms of: being able to extract relevant content from sources to answer a specific question, looking at the context of a source to analyse its value to a historian in answering a specific question, examining the origin, value and content to help them do this. And also in comparing the content of sources.
As mentioned above, students still need the same source skills and so, as before, it is important to use sources when teaching all areas of the course - not just in the teaching of Paper 1 - so they get used to extracting information from sources, comparing them and analysing their value for a historian.
The new format, however, has more emphasis on the perspectives shown in the sources, so this is an area that will need more focus in your work on sources with students - whose perspective is shown in this source? How does that impact its value? How is one perspective different to another?