Modern Studies National 4
SCQF Framework
SCQF Level:
SCQF Credit Points: 24
Skills Framework
Delivering Centre
Vale of Leven Academy
Purpose and Aims
Modern Studies opens up the world of contemporary society for learners.
- The purpose of Modern Studies is to develop the learner’s knowledge and understanding of contemporary political and social issues in local, Scottish, United Kingdom and international contexts. In these contexts, learners will develop an awareness of the social and political issues they will meet in their lives. This purpose will be achieved through successful study of the four Units of the Course
- Through the Modern Studies Course, learners will undertake a coherent study of contemporary society with concepts and themes being revisited and built upon across Units. The Course will develop the skills to help learners interpret and participate in the social and political processes they will encounter now and in the future.
- Modern Studies makes a distinctive contribution to the curriculum by drawing on the social sciences of politics, sociology and economics and where appropriate, of associated ideas drawn from other social subjects. It thereby adopts a multi-disciplinary approach.
The main aims of Modern Studies are to enable learners to develop:
♦ a range of research and information handling skills
♦ straightforward understanding of the democratic process
♦ straightforward understanding of social and economic issues at local, Scottish, national and international levels and ways of addressing needs and inequalities
♦ awareness of different views about the extent of state involvement in society
♦ awareness of the nature and processes of conflict resolution
♦ understanding of human and legal rights and responsibilities and their application in different societies
Recommended Entry
Entry to this Course is at the discretion of the centre. However, learners would normally be expected to have attained the skills, knowledge and understanding required by the following or equivalent qualifications and/or experience:
♦ National 3 Modern Studies Course or relevant component Units
In terms of prior learning and experience, relevant experiences and outcomes may also provide an appropriate basis for doing this Course.
Progression
This Course or its Units may provide progression to:
♦ Modern Studies Course or its component Units at National 5
♦ further study, employment and/or training
Career Options
Further Information
Course Content
This Course has four mandatory Units, including the Added Value Unit. Within each Unit there is a considerable degree of flexibility in themes which can be studied to allow personalisation and choice.
Units are statements of standards for assessment and not programmes of learning and teaching. They can be delivered in a number of ways.
The principles above will be applied in the Units below:
Modern Studies: Democracy in Scotland and the United Kingdom (National 4)
In this Unit, learners will develop skills by using sources of information in order to detect and explain examples of bias and exaggeration. Learners will develop a straightforward knowledge and understanding of democracy in Scotland and the United Kingdom. They will develop knowledge and understanding of the UK political structure including the place of Scotland within this and the debates around this arrangement. Learners will then have a choice of contexts for study which will be drawn from either the Scottish political system or the UK political system. Learners will develop knowledge and understanding of the main institutions and organisations which make up political life in their chosen context. They will develop knowledge and understanding of the ways in which society is informed about the political system, able to participate in and influence the political system. They will develop an understanding of their rights and responsibilities in contemporary democratic political society.
Modern Studies: Social Issues in the United Kingdom (National 4)
In this Unit, learners will develop skills by using sources of information in order to make and give straightforward justifications of decisions. Learners will develop a straightforward knowledge and understanding of social issues in the United Kingdom. They have a choice of social issues within Scotland and the UK. Contexts for study will focus on either social inequality or crime and the law. In the social inequality context, learners will focus on a specific aspect of contemporary social inequality in the UK. They will develop knowledge and understanding of the causes and consequences of social inequality and attempts by government, other organisations and individuals to tackle it. In the crime and the law context, learners will develop knowledge and understanding of the causes of crime, the impact of crime on individuals and society and the role of individuals, the police, the legal system and the state in tackling crime.
Modern Studies: International Issues (National 4)
In this Unit, learners will develop skills by using sources of information in order to draw and give straightforward support for conclusions. Learners will develop a straightforward knowledge and understanding of international issues. They have a choice of contexts for study. Contexts for study can be either a socio-economic and political study of significant world power or a contemporary world issue. The study of a significant world power will focus on contemporary socio-economic issues and a study of its political system. The study of a world issue will focus on a significant contemporary issue, its causes and consequences, and attempts at resolution.
Added Value Unit: Modern Studies Assignment (National 4)
In this Unit, learners will choose an issue for personal study drawn from Modern Studies contexts. They will research their chosen issue and present their findings. Through this activity they will have opportunities to experience challenge and application as they further develop and apply the skills, knowledge and understanding acquired in the other three Units of the Course.
Course Assessment Structure
Unit assessment
All Units are internally assessed against the requirements shown in the Unit Specifications.
They can be assessed on an individual Unit basis or by using other approaches which combine the assessment for more than one Unit.
They will be assessed on a pass/fail basis within centres. SQA will provide rigorous external quality assurance, including external verification, to ensure assessment judgements are consistent and meet national standards.
The assessment of the Units in this Course will be as follows:
Modern Studies: Democracy in Scotland and the United Kingdom (National 4)
The learner will be required to give evidence of:
♦ ability to use a limited range of sources of information to detect and explain bias and exaggeration in familiar contexts drawn from political issues in Scotland and the United Kingdom
♦ straightforward descriptions and brief explanations demonstrating knowledge and understanding, which is mainly factual, of political issues in Scotland and the United Kingdom
Modern Studies: Social Issues in the United Kingdom (National 4)
The learner will be required to give evidence of:
♦ ability to use a limited range of sources of information to make and justify decisions in familiar contexts about social issues in the United Kingdom
♦ straightforward descriptions and brief explanations demonstrating knowledge and understanding, which is mainly factual, of social issues in Scotland and the United Kingdom drawn from either the context of social inequality in the United Kingdom or crime and the law in the United Kingdom
Modern Studies: International Issues (National 4)
The learner will be required to give evidence of:
♦ ability to use a limited range of sources of information to draw and support valid conclusions in familiar contexts about international issues
♦ straightforward descriptions and brief explanations demonstrating knowledge and understanding, which is mainly factual, of international issues drawn from either the study of socio-economic and political issues in a significant world power or a contemporary world issue
Added Value Unit
Courses from National 4 to Advanced Higher include assessment of added value. At National 4, added value will be assessed in an Added Value Unit. The Added Value Unit will address the key purposes and aims of the Course as defined in the Course Rationale. It will do this by addressing one or more of breadth, challenge or application.
In the National 4 Modern Studies Course, the Added Value Unit will focus on:
♦ challenge
♦ application
The learner will extend and apply the skills, knowledge and understanding they have acquired during the Course. This will be assessed by an assignment in which learners will research and present findings on a modern studies topic or issue. The assignment will be sufficiently open and flexible to allow for personalisation and choice.