Delivered at the LIASA-SLYSIG conference 2016

1. Opportunities: Extended Project Qualification and beyond
Good morning everybody. Yesterday I spoke about reading for pleasure and so in this session I am
going to talk about information literacy, my experience in managing the extended project
qualification and how this has given my insight into ways of supporting research in the curriculum.
Slide 2: session objectives
I am going to talk about what EPQ is and how it was run at OAE. Then I will go into the detail of the
course that relates specifically to our work as Librarians, looking at assessment objectives, and then
look at the ways in which Librarians can use this as a model for supporting subjects across the
curriculum, and so you will see how the course might be something you can use as a model to
implement in your own Library programmes.
Slide 3: what is epq?
To begin, EPQ is a standalone qualification… read from slide. It is similar to the extended essay
element of the Diploma Programme in the IB in that it models independent research and writing
demanded at undergraduate level and prepares pupils on it for university study.
Slide 4: levels
The course is offered at three levels. The foundation project level is GCSE graded C-G and higher
project would be a A* to C grade. These two courses would suit pupils in years nine to eleven.
Starting them on the course early, such as year nine, is ideal as it gives you a chance to begin
teaching skills that pupils will need to become independent learners in preparation for their GCSEs,
and to assess their suitability for either the foundation or higher project. The extended project is an
A2 level course and therefore brings with it the reward of UCAS points, which pupils at key stage five
need for entry to university courses. So at this level, the stakes are high and can provide the
difference between getting students onto the university course that they want, or not.
Slide 5
So, how did I get myself involved with this course? Well, at the end of the academic year 2010-11,
final days of the summer term which were inset days, I was approached by the deputy head and
asked whether I would be interested in delivering a course for a group of pupils who would be in
year 11 in September who had taken one of their GCSE pathway subjects a year early. They had
completed their pathway course and taken the exam, and so would have a gap on their timetable in
year 11 and the school was looking for a way to extend their provision and get these pupils
additional qualifications. They were mostly bright, hardworking students, proved by the early-entry
in one of their subjects, and would be suited to a course like EPQ. I would be leading the course,
doing the planning, teaching and marking for the ten pupils earmarked to take part.
I was asked to deliver this course because the Deputy knew of my academic background, my interest
in information literacy and research skills, based on the other work I had done in my time at the
Academy.
Slide 6
I was involved during that period with the Competencies Working Party. The Academy began life
with a competencies-based humanities curriculum, which followed the RSA Opening Minds
curriculum. This was then rolled out to all curriculum areas in which each year group had a skills-
focus for their learning during that year, which would be cross-curricular and embedded within or an

2. additional learning objective in their lessons. So pupils in year nine for example would have a
particular competency, such as relating to people, that they would encounter across subjects during
that year in which they would be building their skills in mastering.
Once pupils got to year 10 the competency was to be information and so I took a lead with the Chair
of the working party to develop our own model. I did my research on the range of information
literacy models being used in schools and higher education, and then used this research as a basis
from which to create our own information competency cycle, with specific skill-identifiers, that could
be used by teachers to teach pupils how to use information within their subject area. This was then
taken to our working party, adapted, and then rolled-out to staff for use in their planning and
teaching, to be embedded appropriately within their curriculum, and therefore across their subjects
in year 10 and 11.
So, as the EPQ was grounded in our information-competence work for GCSE-level pupils, it seemed
clear to our Deputy Head that I would be the most appropriate member of staff to run the course.
Slide 7
So, I ran the course in 2011-12, and then subsequently for two further years, and before I go into my
approach, I’m going to give you an overview of what the EPQ course involves.
Slide 8
So, here is the process of main tasks that any student taking part in the course had to undertake.
The idea is that pupils are free to choose an area or topic that they are interested in, that they have
a passion for, and construct a research question grounded in that topic. It could be something that
they have studied in school, that they were interested in and wanted to take further, or it could be
something that they have a particular passion for outside of school. For those taking the A-level
course, it might be a topic related to the degree that they hope to study in higher education, giving
them the chance to develop their knowledge in their chosen topic of study, evidence their ability to
engage in it, and prove their independent study skills in the area for their UCAS application forms.
So over the three years I had pupils do projects on a wide range of research questions including:
Slide 9
Questions… so you can see here that pupils are choosing pertinent, issue- based topics of research.
The types of questions that engage debate and perhaps divide opinion.
Slide 10
Once they have settled on a topic, pupils do some initial brainstorming and research, and then
create a draft question to begin their project, along with some key aims for what they need to do to
begin to answer their question. They then have to plan the stages of the project, breaking down
what they need to do in terms of time, resources, and deadlines.
Once they have done this it is then a case of beginning their research-proper. This stage can take
some time, and I usually give pupils around a term to do this, using this time to teach the necessary
research and information literacy skills they will need to use, along with more focussed support for
individual students related to their topic.
After the research stage come the write-up. I ran the course with a written project as the outcome,
where pupils write a report that details the process of research, what they found out and answers
their final question. This is a 2,500-word report for level 2 pupils and 5,000-words for level threes,

3. so a significant essay that models the academic writing that they will encounter at undergraduate
level.
Pupils then have to deliver a presentation, to their peers and teachers, which presents the findings
of their project, and reflects on the project as a whole and their performance and achievements
during the process. This is the self-evaluation, reflective element of the project.
Slide 11
These are the evidence that must be submitted for marking for each project level.
Slide 12
So, how did I run EPQ at OAE?
Slide 13
I ran the EPQ level 2 for three years at OAE, and you can see hear how it grew and developed
through this time. Talk through the three years and cohorts.
Slide 14
There are a number of ways of delivering the obligatory taught element of the EPQ course and I
experimented with different methods over the three years that I ran the level two course.
The first year I decided to model the project process with a three week pilot-project that we would
do as a group. So we used the recent London/UK riots as our topic and I delivered teaching sessions
on the skills that the students would need to use for EPQ in their own projects, using the pilot-
project topic as a way of modelling them. This ranged from brainstorming, planning and formulating
a question, to conducting research using the Library books, databases and other sources, along with
how to be a critical reader, using sources appropriately and referencing and bibliographies. These
lessons were then repeated, once pupils were working on their own projects, at the appropriate
stage, in order to refresh their memories and build on what they had learned in the pilot project and
how to apply it in their own work. With a small group of eleven pupils, I was able to supervise each
of them too, giving them the support and advice they needed through the course to ensure they
were going to complete it.
In the second year, there were a larger number of pupils and three groups. This was going to be
harder to manage, along with the teacher-supervisors to support, so I front-loaded all the teaching
covering the skills in more depth during a longer pilot-project. I felt this would be the best way to
ensure that I was happy that the students had the skills before they started their projects, as I would
have less opportunity to monitor them individually having handed over supervisory responsibility for
half the cohort to my team of teachers. I did end up integrating some top-up sessions later in the
year, but to a lesser extent than the previous year.
Finally in 2013-14, I decided to let pupils dive straight into the course, delivering skills sessions
through the year to set them up for each stage of their project. With a cohort of 18 pupils, and a
second cohort of 19 A-level students, this meant that I staggered the teaching of the taught the skills
at the point of need.
Slide 15

4. Pupils were encouraged to be much more independent, having a much more highly structured folder
with weekly target-monitoring sheets to keep them on track. While in previous years the pupils
were given the structure of the course, and the information for the year with the necessary
worksheets, the self-target-tracking and monitoring pushed responsibility back to the pupils and
facilitated an independent mindset and approach from them. You can see here the sorts of things
that were in a level two project folder.
Slide 16
In my second year of running the level two course, the school launched the level three, with an AP
running it. It was with high-achieving year 12 students, many of whom had completed the level 2
with me the previous year. The AP knew of my work in the level 2 and so asked me to help her with
the level three, using my resources and adapting them for the higher course, as well as getting me in
to lessons to deliver sessions for her pupils.
In 2013, the running of the level three was passed on to me. This time, the course was populated by
a mixture of year 13 pupils who had dropped a course from year 12 and needed something to earn
them UCAS points for their university applications. This presented a very different challenge from
the cohort from the previous year, as the academic standards of these students were much lower,
but of course I did as much as I could to get these students through the course and earn the best
grades that they could achieve.
Slide 17
In 2012-13 I delivered specific sessions relating to how the Library could support pupils’ research for
their projects, so I covered key sessions on beginning research and the planning of a a project. How
to access and use the library resources including searching the catalogue, and the VLE where
information about the databases we subscribe to can be found. We did sessions on the importance
of recording research, using different methods such as research record sheets, as well as online tools
such as Evernote and Noodle Tools. Noodle tools is a really useful online tool for managing a
project, with the ability to record sources with bibliographic details and notes, and creating a
bibliography from these recrods. I also did sessions of how to use sources appropriately and how to
use referencing and footnoting in academic writing, as well as a session on annotated bibliographies.
Students came to me for individual support too with their research, so that I could help them find
more specific research related to their individual topics, so I was involved in giving individual advice
and support when required. In 2013-14 I was responsible for the course however, and so delivered
the full teaching requirement covering the sessions from the previous year alongside the rest of the
teaching element needed to enable our students to engage with and fulfil the requirements of the
course. This was alongside running the level two course with the GCSE cohort, so quite a full
teaching load.
Slide 18
So, next I am going to go into a bit more detail into how understanding the assessment objectives of
a course, or piece of assessment, can be you leverage for showing your importance for raising
attainment to academic staff.

5. Slide 19
Here are the summary descriptors of the assessment objectives of the level three EPQ. While three
of them might not immediately jump out as places in which librarians can have an impact, AO2
seems to be the obvious place in which we might gain some leverage in being able to support the
learning on the course. This focus of the course links heavily on information literacy skills and so the
involvement of a school librarian in the teaching and learning of this element seems the most
natural place for us to have an impact, and is worth 20% of the overall grade. But it is worth seeing
in more detail what pupils have to demonstrate in order to earn marks in this area.
Slide 20
When it comes to marking the projects we can see however the further impact information literacy
skills have in other areas for assessment. In AO2 there is the clear description of what is needed to
achieve the top band of marks for using resources… detailed research and the critical analysis of
wide range of relevant sources. It is fulfilling this criteria which will get a pupils in the top-band for
this objective and earn them up top ten marks. As the bands go down, we can see the description
changes, so band two there is evidence of some research and some analysis and application. When
it comes to delivering sessions on research then, it is important to get pupils to understand the
difference between the two and to unpick what this means.
So detailed research across a wide range of resources, in practice, would be the student probably
has at least ten, and probably more like fifteen, different sources in their bibliography. They have to
all be relevant and show how they were selected and evaluated, and in order to do this, an
annotated bibliography would evidence this, with an explanation after each source detailing why
they selected this source, and evaluating how it was useful with a comment on the reliability of the
source. In terms of evidencing a wide range students need to have a variety of different sources,
and I would encourage them to include at least three different format/media. It is not good enough
to rely just on books, or websites. They should be aiming to research across different forms
including books, journal articles, websites, newspapers, film and video, as well as perhaps some
primary research too if this is relevant. This lies in contrast with the second band where the criteria
specifies some research and a range rather than a wide range, and so pupils need to understand
what this looks like, perhaps five to ten items on their bibliography from a maybe three different
types of source, and the difference between the two. So when it comes to the teaching element,
knowing how to find relevant research using library resources and beyond was a very important
skills to teach during the course. They then have to know how to critically analyse and apply the
research in their project to get the top-band. So while analysing and talking about the research they
have found will get them the middle band, being able to be critical readers, discussing the limitations
of what sources are saying and how this links with other sources and their own ideas about this will
get them into the top band. When we get into this level of detail, we can see how the reading,
understanding and application of the research is highly important and the ways in which the
teaching of this will get pupils into the top band.
Slide 21
However, information literacy skills spill over into AO3, worth 40% of the marks overall, where
projects should show thorough analysis in their write-up and need to demonstrate the ability to
synthesise information from a variety of sources. Here we are assessing how well the student apply
their research to the task, and obviously this relies heavily on the ability to write in a highly academic

6. way, but also to the appropriate use of research, how to read information, understand it and weave
it into your essay. All skills that perhaps we as Librarians have an understanding of and can have a
role in developing in our students.
Slide 22
So in terms of how I approached the teaching of the relevant skills for the course, we can see on this
slide the ways in which I broke down the various elements. In particular, the skills under researching
are all prescient to us as Librarians, planning research, finding and using resources, evaluating
sources and their reliability, how to record research using a bibliography and research record sheets,
and how to use research to inform the planning and writing of an essay or report.
But then some of those under report writing, coming under AO3, are also very relevant and help to
ensure that students understand how to use the research they have done in order to develop their
writing. In particular how to quote and reference appropriately, weaving ideas and research into
your essay, avoiding plagiarism by having a full bibliography, and having a consistent format. In this
sense, we can see then how the information literacy skills bleed into other areas of assessment that
we don’t get necessarily get the chance to see when we just deliver one or two sessions for a
particular teacher’s scheme of work or assessment.
Slide 23
So, what have I got from EPQ? In terms of general benefits, being involved with the EPQ has raised
the profile of the Library amongst students and staff. It has brought with it collaboration with, and
the management in inverted commas, of teachers supporting in the course too. And most
importantly, the teaching of information literacy skills within a discrete qualification, which has been
invaluable to my practice.
Slide 24
More specifically and importantly, the responsibility for managing and delivering a course was a real
learning curve for me. We are used to, as Librarians, supplementing teaching and learning in our
institutions. Delivering bespoke sessions and resources to support learners in their subjects at the
point of need. However, this experience has given me an insight into the planning of a course to
exam specifications. The ways in which teachers have to plan their lessons to meet the
requirements of the curriculum in terms of assessment and outcomes of the pupil’ learning, and
coming at it from this perspective changes the ways in which you approach the planning of your
lessons. The need to understand assessment objectives, and the ways in which these are marked
and assessed. How my lessons need to relate specifically to at least one assessment objective so
that I can demonstrate to pupils, and they can understand, the value and application of what I am
delivering and they are learning.
I cannot overemphasise the value of marking work during these three years of running the two
courses. The experience of marking and assessing projects, seeing how my teaching of the skills in
relation to the assessment objectives was utilised, what these skills look like in pupils’ work and the
extent to which they have applied them effectively. It really helped me to gain an insight into the
marking of concrete outcomes because often when we deliver a session we are not involved in
assessing the work that is produced as a result of our teaching. This in itself means we do not get to
see final outcomes, whether students have applied the learning that we hope has taken place,
whether our input has had an impact and in order to see how to improve what we might have

7. delivered for next time. I think there is no reason why we can’t seek to implement programmes or
courses such as this within our schools, given the right conditions and opportunities.
Slide 25
So now, when I am talking with staff about using the Library and our resources, whether they have
come to me or vice-versa, I feel like I am able to frame what I am able to do for them and their
students in language that will resonate more clearly with what they are hoping to achieve.
I am looking for opportunities and ammunition to start conversations with staff and students and
coming at it from an understanding which will mean I am better equipped at having an impact. I will
ask them whether I can see the assessment criteria for the piece of work or task. I will talk with
them about how what I might be able to provide can meet these criteria, and if there are key areas
which I can help guide or teach their class, or specific groups of students. Knowing this information
might mean I can work with the teacher, or department, to identify what progression might look
like, and how we can structure and scaffold the learning so that pupils can develop their work for the
task.
Having conversations using language like this, as I said, resonates I think more clearly with what staff
are hoping to achieve which is, ultimately, better progress and higher attainment for our students.
Being able to understand and demonstrate that can help give us opportunities to embed ourselves
more firmly within the teaching and learning across our schools.
Slide 26
So, when it came to setting up a project page for students studying A-level History and their
historical enquiry, it helped for me to know that pupils would be assessed on the range and depth of
their secondary research and their independent use of relevant reading of the sources. When
demonstrating the sources that I put together on a VLE page for them, I was able to highlight the
value of using a range of these sources, as starting points, as a way into ensuring they are beginning
to meet the demands of the assessment. On the first page I included the basic information about
the task, along with files from the teacher that he wanted to make available to them. Also there are
research record sheets and bibliography templates that we decided would be useful for the students
to use as part of their research. These were the ones that I used with my EPQ students and I guided
students through how to use these and the value of using them when it came to the final writing up
of their work. In terms of the resources on the Research tab, we talked about the value of Britannica
Online as an alternative to Wikipedia, and why this encyclopedia is a reliable resource. When
demonstrating the History journals they could access through magazines online, and History Review
and History Today through the public Library, I was able to discuss the value of journal publishing
and the different academic insights you can get through these sources. Also linked here is the BBC
History page, JISC content, Old Bailey online and British History online all delivering both primary
and secondary resources. So these websites, along with the reading list provided in the project files
page, would help to ensure they were on their way to conducting research that demonstrates access
and use of resources of the necessary range and depth demanded by the assessment.
So even though my knowledge of the assessment criteria may not have been as deep here as with
EPQ, as the detailed information I needed wasn’t quite as forthcoming, I was able to use the
information I did have to demonstrate to the students the value of what I had put together for them
and apply this to the assessment of the task.

8. Slide 27
Which I think is why having conversations like this can help us demonstrate our value to curriculum,
for both staff and students.
Slide 28
If you are interested in finding more information about the EPQ and research skills, take a note of
some of the websites listed here.
You will also find some very useful resources from CILIP’s ILG group on information literacy and the
Teen Tech project in the last link, the guides and resources from which can be downloaded for free.
Slide 29
Thank you for listening and I would like to invite you to ask any questions that you might have.