Just in time for the end of term – we’ve finished and released the draft of our BTEC Physics module for the 2010 BTEC specs (free BTEC science resources). Click here for BTEC 2010 resources.
As with the other modules, we’ve released our resources and assignments for others to use or adapt. We’ve tried to link lessons together and put practical work in to our scheme to make it more interesting/motivating for students of all abilities but if you have any suggestions or ideas for improving it further please take the time to let us know. Remember that this scheme is an outline scheme written for our students, and you will/should have to personalise it to suit the needs of your students and departments.
This scheme hasn’t been trialled with students yet – it represents a work in progress. If you use our scheme and you find any mistakes, please let us know so we can upload corrected versions for all to use.
(You can send me messages and files through the contact me form above). Copyright information is available here.
I came across this book as a result of someone posting messages on the TES forums. I decided to check out the book, especially as Hodder make this very easy – you can sign up for an E-inspection copy and get access to the book on screen for 30 days. Whilst this does not give the same experience as flicking through a paper copy, it does provide a very useful insight into the book. (Click here for more information)
It is interesting to see that the book is quite different from the Edexcel one. Note that I say different, not better. How you rate the book will depend on for what you intend to use the book, and the teaching styles of the department. The emphasis of the book is more of a teaching resource than a reference resource. As a result there is less factual information and content in the book, but more ideas of assignments. For those that are serious about the vocational aspect of BTEC, the book also links topics with appropriate science careers, and is probably worth keeping a single copy in the department for this reason alone. I’d rate the quality of the assessment tasks more highly than Edexcel book (especially P1,M1,D1 of the core physics module! If you’ve got the Edexcel book you’ll know what I mean!)
As I said above, how useful this book is will depend on how you deliver BTEC within the department. The Edexcel was more of a traditional text book matched to BTEC, almost with assessment material added as an afterthought. The Hodder book feels much more like a teaching resources, and has more teaching sequences that you could use with students, or that students could follow independently. Of course using the text book as the primary teaching method could mean significant investment in a resource that could be out of date as soon as the specifications change again.
Would I buy the book? I think in my last review I made my dislike of text books obvious. Whilst they are useful for cover lessons or occasional use, I can’t imagine a modern and forward thinking department using text books as the primary teaching method. I’d recommend science departments to check out both of the BTEC books and buy a set that most suits the use to which they will be put (e.g. cover lessons)
BTEC Level 2 First Applied Science Student Book (Paperback) by Ms Patricia Rhodes, Christine Brain, Mr Peter Gale, Mr David Goodfellow, Ms Sue Hocking, Mrs Christine Kitchin, Mr Roy Llewellyn, Ms Julie Matthews, Dr Ismail Musa
I bought a copy of this text book having co-developed a scheme of work for the new BTEC specifications. I was interested to see what the book looked like, and how it covered the BTEC assessment criteria.
The book provides a useful but not essential resource to support the teaching of BTEC Applied Science. The book is printed in colour and the content is matched to the requirements of the course, giving it an advantage over generic text books. Activities are matched to the content, but there tends to be very little in the way of activities apart from the assessment tasks. The assessment materials don’t include scenarios or assignment briefs, but do provide a useful illustration of what level of work would be required for each of the assessment criteria.
Good points
Bad points
Provides exemplar assessment tasks linked to the BTEC assessment criteria
Published by Pearson so you can be sure that assessment criteria etc have been interpreted correctly
Content matched to BTEC specification
Colour pictures and tables to hold interest
Useful for setting cover work
Useful for higher achieving students who could use them independently
Similar content to other text books, just arranged in a way to match BTEC content
Information for each topic limited to a double page spread which can seem restrictive for some topics
Assessment material is quite dry and seems to be restricted to discussions and making posters
Expensive at £17.99 (RRP) a copy
Lacks the interactivity of electronic resources (although there are some electronic materials available separately)
Are they worth buying? I’ve spent 15 years teaching without using text books, I passionately believe that there are many more engaging and stimulating ways to teach students than referring to text books.
I would however recommend having a copy of this on the shelf so that teachers can refer to it when they aren’t sure of the content, or when setting/marking assessments. Teachers new to BTEC would benefit most from this resource and the security it brings. It might also be worth having a class set of these to use for cover work, or for occasional use as a reference material.
One point I’ve not made is the unfair advantage that Pearson holds over other publishers as owner of Edexcel. Is it right that the exam board also publishes text books and teaching materials to accompany the course? (Some might think that they already make quite enough money from getting teachers to do all their marking and work for them!)
It’s finally finished. We’ve finished and released the draft of our BTEC Chemistry module for the 2010 BTEC specs (free BTEC science resources). Click here for BTEC 2010 resources.
As with the biology module, we’ve released our resources and assignments for others to use or adapt. We’ve tried to link lessons together and put practical work in to our scheme to make it more interesting/motivating for students of all abilities but if you have any suggestions or ideas for improving it further please take the time to let us know.
This scheme hasn’t been trialled with students yet – it represents a work in progress (more of a skeleton scheme that we hope individual teachers will adapt to personalise the leaning experience of their students).
If you use our scheme and you find any mistakes, please let us know so we can upload corrected versions for all to use.
(You can send me messages and files through the contact me form above)
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Just in time for the end of term – we’ve finished and released the draft of our BTEC Physics module for the 2010 BTEC specs (free BTEC science resources). Click here for BTEC 2010 resources.
I came across this book as a result of someone posting messages on the TES forums. I decided to check out the book, especially as Hodder make this very easy – you can sign up for an E-inspection copy and get access to the book on screen for 30 days. Whilst this does not give the same experience as flicking through a paper copy, it does provide a very useful insight into the book. (
BTEC Level 2 First Applied Science Student Book (Paperback) by Ms Patricia Rhodes, Christine Brain, Mr Peter Gale, Mr David Goodfellow, Ms Sue Hocking, Mrs Christine Kitchin, Mr Roy Llewellyn, Ms Julie Matthews, Dr Ismail Musa
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