|
Venue: Queen’s
University, Belfast
Dates and times: Each course will run from
9.30a.m. to 1p.m.
-
Saturday 20th
March
-
7th, 8th & 9th
April
-
Saturday 17th
April
Overview
Helping Hand Tutoring offers a broad
range of courses and has significant
experience in the design and delivery of
intensive, exam-orientated tuition.
All of our Easter revision tutors are
experienced grammar school teachers with
extensive teaching experience in some of
Northern Ireland’s top grammar schools. Many
are examiners and are therefore attuned to
the requirements and approaches demanded by
the various examining boards.
The aims of our courses are to cultivate a
high level of understanding of core topic
areas, to show students how to revise
effectively and to adopt good examination
techniques.
Small classes are essential in order to
provide the close attention which each
student requires. All A2 groups are limited
to an absolute maximum of ten students.
All students attending will be sent out a
pre-course questionnaire in which they will
identify their particular areas of concern
and the examination board they are sitting.
This information is reviewed by their
specific tutor in advance of the
commencement of the course to ensure that
individual student requirements are
understood.
Courses available (click link to view more
details) :
At the end of the
course all students will be given a report
outlining areas of strength and weaknesses.
This report will provide specific
suggestions for improvement specific to the
subject area.
A2
Mathematics Course
The course tutor is an experienced,
practising grammar school teacher and
examiner.
The Maths revision course will be based on
the CCEA specifications for the core C3 and
C4 modules. Although we will focus on the
CCEA specification there is a significant
overlap with the C3 and C4 specifications of
other examining boards, eg. Edexcel, AQA,
OCR, so the material covered will be
relevant for students studying for those
examinations also.
We will be aiming to ensure that all
students gain the maximum marks that they
are capable of in this summer’s
examinations. We will achieve this by
focusing on the topics listed below, in each
case concentrating on the most problematic
areas and checking pupils understanding of
the concepts involved. We will also examine
past paper questions, identifying exactly
what they are asking and how to best answer
them in order to get the most marks
possible.
C3: The Modulus Function, E and Logs,
Differentiation, Parametric Curves,
Exponential Growth and Decay, Trigonometry –
identities, graphs and equations, Newton –
Raphson Iteration, Partial Fractions,
Integration (basics, e’s, logs and f’(x)/f(x)),
Simpson’s Rule
C4: Functions, Parametric Differentiation,
Implicit Differentiation, Vectors,
Trigonometry – inverse functions, compound
and double angle formulae, Integration
(substitution and by parts), Volumes of
Revolution, Differential Equations.
The third A2 module taken by students varies
depending on choices at AS. Questions on
Mechanics and Statistics will also be dealt
with on an individual basis.
A2 Biology
Course
The grammar school teacher running the
course has 27 years experience of teaching A
Level Biology in one of our well-known
grammar schools. He also has extensive
tutoring experience and has led Easter
revision courses in the past.
The Biology Easter Revision Course will be
based on the A2 specification, (found at
www.ccea.org.uk/biology) but will
also be 'aligned' to other boards, such as AQA as there is a great deal of commonality
in specifications.
We aim to consolidate and enhance each
pupil's existing biological knowledge in a
way that makes it more accessible and
therefore more easily recalled during exams.
To this end, the tutor and students will
work through the topics listed below,
concentrating on problematic areas
(identified by the course participants
themselves) and resolving issues found here.
The tutor and students will also examine
actual exam papers, teaching pupils how to
establish specifically what is being asked
in each case and how to frame answers for
these with the precision, 'vocabulary' and
relevance expected by examiners.
Module 4: Physiology: Homeostasis, kidneys,
osmoregulation, immunity, nerves, hormones
(plant and animal), muscles.
Ecosystems: Populations, Communities,
Energetics, Nitrogen and Carbon cycles,
Human impact on the planet.
Module 5: Respiration (anaerobic and
aerobic, Krebs, fermentation, etc),
Photosynthesis (Z-scheme, Calvin cycle,
chloroplast physiology, etc), DNA (triplet
code, GM technology, ligase vs polymerase
etc.), Genetics, both individual and
populational, Plant kingdom, Animal Kingdom.
*These lists are not exclusive of other
topics. What will be covered will largely be
driven by the course participants' needs.
So, for example, the tutor has not alluded
specifically to "statistics" as all
coursework will have been already submitted,
but there is a 'synoptic' element built into
each paper that may require interpretive
statistical knowledge therefore the tutor
may choose to visit "statistics".
A2
Physics Course
The Physics tutor is an experienced, grammar
school teacher, author and examiner.
This Revision Course is designed for
students who want to maximise their grades
in the CCEA A2 Physics examinations in the
summer. All of the challenging topics on the
two theory modules will be explored and
guidance will be given about the best way to
prepare for the practical test.
The key themes in each module will be
explained fully and students will have the
opportunity to practise past examination
questions in a supportive environment.
Students will be strongly encouraged to ask
questions to broaden and deepen their
understanding of the material on the
specification.
A2 1: The major problem areas associated
with Momentum, Thermal Physics, Circular
Motion, Oscillations and Atomic and Nuclear
Physics will be explored in depth. The
course tutor will seek to show students
that, with adequate preparation, these
topics can be approached with confidence.
Particular attention will be paid to the
solution of the more challenging
mathematical questions and some time will be
set aside to allow students to develop their
problem-solving skills with a scientific
calculator.
A2 2: Students will increase their knowledge
and understanding of Fields and their
applications. Particular topics include
Gravitational, Electric & Magnetic Fields,
Capacitors, Deflection of Charged Particles,
Particle Accelerators and the Physics of
Fundamental Particles. This is a long and
quite demanding module and the course
tutor’s objective is to give students a
clear understanding of what they need to
know, understand and be able to do if they
are to obtain a high examination grade.
No-one can adequately prepare for the
Practical Examination without practice in a
laboratory setting. Nevertheless, the tutor
will seek to show students how they can
maximise their marks by applying appropriate
skills in planning, analysis and evaluation.
A2
Chemistry Course
The Chemistry tutor is an experienced,
grammar school teacher and has experience of
three previous A-level intensive revision
courses and has undertaken private tuition
with CCEA, AQA, OCR and Edexcel examining
bodies. The Chemistry tutor has also been an
A-level chemistry examiner for two examining
bodies.
The Chemistry revision
course will be of particular benefit to
students following the CCEA A2 Chemistry
specification but will also cover the
majority of content from the other
examination boards.
The main focus of the
course will be modules 4 and 5 which are the
non-practical papers students will sit in
summer 2010. The tutor will guide students
through the more difficult aspects of these
modules and then demonstrate the application
of this knowledge through various worked
examples. Students will then be given the
opportunity to test their own understanding
by working through past examination paper
questions. This process will provide
students with increased confidence in areas
they have previously found difficult. This
is especially true for the mathematical
applications required in module 4 and the
analytical techniques covered in module 5.
The tutor will also summarise the organic
chemistry covered in both modules 4 and 5
and reinforce this with extensive use of
problems from previous examination papers.
Students attending the
course will also be encouraged to ask
questions throughout the teaching sessions
in order to clarify any areas of confusion.
|
