Starters and Plenaries for Edexcel A Level Psychology

What do teachers say about this resource? (8347)

A very good resource for starters and plenaries, providing different types of activities that can be completed individually or in groups. The different activities link to the A01-A03 skills and there are stretch and challenge tasks for the more able. There is nothing not to like about this resource. It provides answers, which is a time saver and helps with standardization in the department! This resource is suited for different levels of ability. It can be consolidation for the more able and breaks the content down into accessible sections for the less able. It will engage students, i.e., make it fun, and set a positive mood for the rest of the lesson. Comprehensive... A solid resource to add to one's pack.

This is a great resource. I liked the range of activities as it covered a lot of the essential topics needed for this level of study. It was good that some of them were more 'hands on' such as ordering the model of memory, while others just required written responses. I liked that they were clear and provided space for students to respond. Activity 21 is really good in using different coding methods to process information - I like these features of using psychology to teach Psychology! I love Activity 29 - not only fun, but helpful retrieval practice. It uses retrieval to help students lengthen the memory of the information. The topics covered are clear and done with appropriate detail. The non-fussy layout is helpful for all learners - no need for distractions. Most activities are suitable for IB. It has definitely given me some ideas and I would recommend it to colleagues in IB as well as A Level.

I would recommend them because so far rarely is it possible to get hold of resources like this and they save me time!

What do teachers say about this resource? (9940)

The resource is thorough, and seems highly relevant to the Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Psychology curriculum. It covers a wide range of topics within learning psychology, offering various activities that align with the specification and assessment objectives. The activities are designed to engage students quickly, suitable for both the start and end of lessons, and some can be used as homework tasks. This versatility is beneficial for varied teaching methods. The tasks are clear, simple, and self-explanatory, which should facilitate ease of use in a classroom setting. There's also differentiation in tasks, catering to students of different abilities. Activities cover essential aspects of learning theories, including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, social learning theory, and their applications in understanding behavior, phobias, and social control. The resource enhances learning by providing practical, hands-on activities that can help students understand and apply psychological theories and concepts. This experiential learning approach is crucial for subjects like psychology, where abstract theories need to be contextualized in real-world scenarios. The variety of tasks, including identifying ethical concerns, designing investigations, and analyzing case studies, promotes critical thinking and a deeper understanding of psychological principles. The layout appears to be straightforward and user-friendly, with clear headings and structured activities. All exercises are relevant and clearly titled so it's clear what they address. The resource is great as it is. The range of activities are engaging and stops the activities from becoming stale or over-used. I'd be delighted to have this as a beginning Psychology teacher - it would have helped me make lessons more engaging and given me transferable ideas for how to present information-dense topics.

This is a good resource that supports the delivery of a wide variety of key concepts, studies, and issues and debates in Psychology. The Index table on pages 2-3 identify where the activities support A01, A02, or A03 skills, and is mapped to the specification. It can be used across specifications as the content is common to all Psychology specifications. It includes answers which make delivery of the material so much easier - a time saver! The activities are varied and generally follow a standard structure - Task, Task 2, Stretch and Challenge for differentiation.

This resource makes difficult concepts more accessible to students by providing multiple examples of how concepts can be applied.
It breaks concepts down in a format that is easy for students to remember long term. It includes key studies and enables learning through a grid that identifies Methods, Results, Conclusions and Evaluations. This resource can be used across multiple topics in the International specification, e.g., when issues and debates are taught (reductionism, nature/nurture), when key research studies (Bandura, Pavlov, Watson & Rayner), concepts (classical and operant conditioning, stages of social learning theory, etc.), and ethics are delivered. A very good resource, well structured, and linked directly to the specification.

What do teachers say about this resource? (7669)

I am very happy to have this resource available, as Head of Science and previously teaching Science A level and GCSE – it is always very annoying the lack of resources available to Psychology compared to Science topics. The books do not have questions in them either for students to answer – or very few, and those that do, do not tend to have mark schemes. This makes good resources particularly for starters and plenaries; a nice way to ensure the 3 part lesson in KS4/ KS5 subjects which can easily become more lecture based.

I particularly like this resource because it can act as a good review of previous material, as well as providing activities to get students thinking about analysis of studies and considering the various issues such as scientific measures and ethical issues. Helps to maintain interest in a lesson which can become more lecture based, as well as encouraging the critical thinking skills needed for AO3 questions and writing essays. Most of the other resources I have got without producing them myself have been downloaded from TES, either the free resources or purchased. These are not always specific to the course and due to the limitations of previews, it can sometimes be a surprise what you get. It is worth the price of the resource to save the time and effort producing these yourself

It is a truly brilliant resource. The pack is logically laid out and enables me to use countless excellently researched and presented resources at the start and end of the lesson.

I loved it - there are so many excellent ideas for quick re caps of work or starters.. is excellent for quick knowledge tests and consolidation of knowledge

This resource will be very useful as it has lots of varied activities to enhance the knowledge (AO1) of students. The activities are easy to understand and quick to do... The instructions on how to complete the activities are very clear. The provision of answers immediately after each activity makes it easy to use as a teacher. There is a good variety of activities to maintain student interest – K Elk, Teacher and Independent Reviewer

What do teachers say about this resource? (9773)

Very good - there were plenty of activities to consolidate learning and stimulate discussion. Experienced and teachers new to the subject would benefit from it. There is a good mix of different types of activities that would appeal to different types of students (mathematical and the more creative). They would be good to have for starters/plenaries and group competitions. There are extension tasks to consolidate knowledge and allow for differentiation. As a starter/plenary it would allow students to become engaged in their learning... it would be a good tool for less able students to study from as there is far less text than a text book. It maps well to the specification as it identifies and distinguishes between the different classification systems, and includes Sx, Depression, OCD, cultural bias, eating disorders, and the genetics of behaviour. I dare say it would suit all exam boards.