Course profile

AS level Science for Public Understanding

Entry Requirements:

To gain entry to the course the minimum qualification will be four GCSE passes at grade C or above, including preferably a grade CC in Dual Award Science or a grade C in one of the separate sciences. However you do not need to be considering AS level sciences - more importantly you should have an interest in and concern about the role of science in our society.

About the Subject:

This course is available at AS level only. However, one of the reasons for expanding the number of AS levels that can be taken at this stage is to broaden a student's experience through the study of engaging and topical issues. This course is ideally suited to students from a wide variety of backgrounds, both science and arts based, in that it will raise the awareness of interactions between science, applications and wider society. It should give a better grasp of the science which underpins everyday choices and decisions, the confidence to read and discuss media reports of issues involving science, and an appreciation of the impact of scientific ideas on the ways we think and act.

Suitable Subject Combinations:

This course is suitable for students who want to combine it with AS level sciences, as well as students taking other courses who have an interest in how science issues affect our modern society. For science students, particularly those considering courses like medicine or Oxbridge applications, it provides a means of broadening and deepening their science studies. For students taking non-science courses it provides an ideal opportunity to broaden their course and maintain an interest in an area that will affect all our lives in the future.

Course Content:

'AS' Level - One year course only:

The course content is divided into two modules - Issues in the Life Sciences and Issues in the Physical Sciences. The Life Sciences module includes work on medical ethics, alternative medicines, infectious diseases, health risks, genetic diseases, genetic engineering, natural selection and the interdependence of species. The Physical Sciences module includes work on air quality, using fuels and the effect on the global environment (e.g. greenhouse effect), sources and effects of radiation, the use of radioactive materials in medicine and nuclear power and the scale, origin and future of the Universe.

Special features of the course:

The course includes two elements of assessment entitled "The Study of a Topical Scientific Issue" and "A Critical Account of Scientific Reading". These can be based on the individual student's own interests i.e. they can spend time following up their particular enthusiasms or areas that they have always wanted to investigate. Topics that students have covered this year include nuclear weapons, drug development, homeopathy, viagra, xenotransplantation, meningitis vaccinations, IVF, genetically modified food, animal testing, cloning and black holes.

Assessment:

The course is assessed by two written exam papers (each contributing 35% of the final mark) one on Issues in the Life Sciences and one on Issues in the Physical Sciences. The remaining 30% are assessed by coursework, 20% on the study of a scientific issue and 10% on the critical account of scientific reading. The two written papers are taken at the end of the course and the coursework runs throughout.

Progression:

The course provides opportunities for those choosing sciences to put their studies in context and for those choosing other subjects to broaden their