Cambridge Global Perspectives
Cambridge International AS Level Global Perspectives aims to prepare young people for positive engagement with a rapidly changing world, broadening their outlook through the critical analysis of and reflection on, issues of global significance. This syllabus is firmly based on skills rather than specific content. Through the study of global issues, learners will explore different and sometimes opposing perspectives and will acquire and develop thinking and reasoning skills as well as research and communication skills.
These skills will enable learners to meet the demands of the twenty-first century and to make a successful transition to study in higher education. |
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Cambridge International AS Level Global Perspectives encourages transformative learning, where learners become critically aware of their own beliefs and assumptions and those of others, developing valid arguments by reflecting on and interpreting, a range of evidence.
Advances in technology have changed our access to information and the way we communicate and work. Increasingly, young people are faced with a multiplicity of competing ideas, information and arguments and they need to be able to think critically to deconstruct arguments, to differentiate between the ways in which people express their perspectives, to assess and evaluate claims and to develop lines of reasoning. |
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Learners will develop research skills that will enable them to obtain information, evaluate the reliability and usefulness of this information and use the evidence gathered to construct their own arguments and support lines of reasoning.
Through well-defined stages, called the Critical Path, learners will apply a logical approach to decision making. Learners will be able to analyze the structure and context of arguments, assess the impact and limitations of evidence and make well-reasoned judgments through informed research. Learners will learn to organize and communicate their findings in appropriate formats.
Cambridge International AS Level Global Perspectives prepares learners for further education and for lifelong learning across a range of disciplines by helping them to be:
Cambridge International AS Global Perspectives will appeal to young people because it enables them to explore issues of global significance and offers them opportunities to acquire, develop and apply skills in critical thinking, research and communication.
Not only does Cambridge International AS Global Perspectives equip learners with the skills they need in a rapidly changing intellectual and technical environment, it also prepares and encourages them to engage confidently with issues and ideas of global significance.
To encourage learners to think critically, this syllabus presents an approach to analyzing and evaluating arguments and perspectives called the Critical Path.
Candidates will learn how to deconstruct and reconstruct arguments by researching global issues and interrogating evidence. They will reflect on the implications of their research and analysis from a personal perspective and communicate their findings and ideas as reasoned arguments.
The Critical Path
Cambridge International AS Global Perspectives aims to develop learners by:
The global topics provide meaningful and stimulating contexts through which candidates can develop the skills necessary to participate as active, global citizens and to prepare them for independent research and further study. The topics are viewed through different perspectives that help candidates find pathways through the issues and the connections between them.
A suitable study programme can be devised by choosing a range of topics set within a global context and viewed through different perspectives. Candidates should select the topics that engage their interest and explore each chosen topic through the four elements:
Candidates research global topics through different themes. Candidates should explore a range of topics from the list below.
Through well-defined stages, called the Critical Path, learners will apply a logical approach to decision making. Learners will be able to analyze the structure and context of arguments, assess the impact and limitations of evidence and make well-reasoned judgments through informed research. Learners will learn to organize and communicate their findings in appropriate formats.
Cambridge International AS Level Global Perspectives prepares learners for further education and for lifelong learning across a range of disciplines by helping them to be:
- confident in working with information and ideas – their own and those of others
- responsible for themselves, responsive to and respectful of others
- innovative and equipped for new and future challenges
- engaged intellectually and socially, ready to make a difference
Cambridge International AS Global Perspectives will appeal to young people because it enables them to explore issues of global significance and offers them opportunities to acquire, develop and apply skills in critical thinking, research and communication.
Not only does Cambridge International AS Global Perspectives equip learners with the skills they need in a rapidly changing intellectual and technical environment, it also prepares and encourages them to engage confidently with issues and ideas of global significance.
To encourage learners to think critically, this syllabus presents an approach to analyzing and evaluating arguments and perspectives called the Critical Path.
Candidates will learn how to deconstruct and reconstruct arguments by researching global issues and interrogating evidence. They will reflect on the implications of their research and analysis from a personal perspective and communicate their findings and ideas as reasoned arguments.
The Critical Path
Cambridge International AS Global Perspectives aims to develop learners by:
- providing opportunities to acquire disciplined and scholarly research skills
- promoting a critical, questioning approach to information that is often taken for granted
- encouraging self-reflection and an independence of thought
- encouraging an understanding of and engagement with, some of the key global issues that they will face wherever they live and work
- encouraging an awareness and understanding of and respect for, the diversity of perspectives on global issues
- encouraging an interdisciplinary approach to global issues
The global topics provide meaningful and stimulating contexts through which candidates can develop the skills necessary to participate as active, global citizens and to prepare them for independent research and further study. The topics are viewed through different perspectives that help candidates find pathways through the issues and the connections between them.
A suitable study programme can be devised by choosing a range of topics set within a global context and viewed through different perspectives. Candidates should select the topics that engage their interest and explore each chosen topic through the four elements:
- deconstruction
- reconstruction
- reflection
- communication
Candidates research global topics through different themes. Candidates should explore a range of topics from the list below.
Global topic
• Alternatives to oil • Artificial Intelligence • Biodiversity and threats to the world’s natural heritage • Endangered cultures • Ethical foreign policies • Genetic engineering • Global climate change • Globalization of economic activity • Globalization versus new nationalism • Impact of the internet • Incorporating technology into buildings • Industrial pollution • Integration and multiculturalism • International law • Medical ethics and priorities |
• Migration and work • On-line and interactive communities • Standard of living/quality of life • Sustainable futures • Technology and lifestyles • The challenge of GM crops • The economic role of women • The emergence of a global superpower • The ethics and economics of food • The religious-secular divide • The speed of change in technology and global trade • Transnational organizations (UN, World Bank, EU, NATO) • Urbanization and the countryside |
By studying at least four topics, candidates will develop the Critical Path to interrogating information and acquire and develop a range of skills, including thinking critically, reasoning and communication.
Candidates research global topics through as many different themes as is relevant.
Theme
Culture
Economics
Environment
Ethics
Politics
Science and Technology
Candidates research global topics through as many different themes as is relevant.
Theme
Culture
Economics
Environment
Ethics
Politics
Science and Technology
Global issues are complex, multifaceted and multilevel challenges and through the structured exploration of global topics, candidates research alternative perspectives from different themes. Candidates will be guided towards development of research, communication, thinking and reasoning.
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