Some Tips from People Who Got Their Scripts Back (1 Viewer)

[bayan92]

Going to make this thread for anyone who got their original scripts to share tips which seemed to have worked.

My top tips are:

- For the SCIENCE OPTIONS do not go crazy and write a million pages for the big mark questions (5-8 marks). I know of people who wrote a whole booklet for the last question in the Biology - Genetics option last year. I wrote a humble 1 page in my massive write (not joke it is huge) and I got 6/7. Short and sweet. That is how the markers like it.
- Don't BS they'll just give you zero. I had no idea about a key concept in Biology, so I just wrote some general crap down. Even though there may have been some good points worth about 2 marks (out of 6) in their, I got a zero because I added BS all around it. Make sense??
- USE DOTPOINTS. Everyone says don't write in dotpoints, its not write. WRONG! Do it!

 

[Dragonmaster262]

Going to make this thread for anyone who got their original scripts to share tips which seemed to have worked.

My top tips are:

- For the SCIENCE OPTIONS do not go crazy and write a million pages for the big mark questions (5-8 marks). I know of people who wrote a whole booklet for the last question in the Biology - Genetics option last year. I wrote a humble 1 page in my massive write (not joke it is huge) and I got 6/7. Short and sweet. That is how the markers like it.
- Don't BS they'll just give you zero. I had no idea about a key concept in Biology, so I just wrote some general crap down. Even though there may have been some good points worth about 2 marks (out of 6) in their, I got a zero because I added BS all around it. Make sense??
- USE DOTPOINTS. Everyone says don't write in dotpoints, its not write. WRONG! Do it!

Any tips for English and Maths?

 

[harrisony]

?
- USE DOTPOINTS. Everyone says don't write in dotpoints, its not write. WRONG! Do it!

*right

Any tips for English and Maths?

http://community.boredofstudies.org...ths-examination-marks-tips-hsc-examiners.html
Maths - Bored of Studies check the HSC tips forum

 

[Shadowdude]

If they gave you zero for BS-ing around proper points, then I think they didn't mark it properly.

For example, if I was writing about the... Haber Process and I said it used nitrogen from the air and chucked equations in then BS-ed on how the hydrogen was extracted, I should still get marks for saying it used nitrogen in the air and using correct chemical equations.

So I'm not sure about that.. someone can correct me, perhaps?

 

[ajdlinux]

- USE DOTPOINTS. Everyone says don't write in dotpoints, its not write. WRONG! Do it!

Obviously not for the humanities subjects, but for science you can get away with this as long as you're still writing proper English.

If they gave you zero for BS-ing around proper points, then I think they didn't mark it properly.

For example, if I was writing about the... Haber Process and I said it used nitrogen from the air and chucked equations in then BS-ed on how the hydrogen was extracted, I should still get marks for saying it used nitrogen in the air and using correct chemical equations.

So I'm not sure about that.. someone can correct me, perhaps?

It would depend on the marking criteria they've adopted - some are quite specific about the points they need before they're willing to give marks.

 

[pwoh]

They'd dock marks if you BS'd around something right and the BS contradicted it

 

[cem]

They'd dock marks if you BS'd around something right and the BS contradicted it

Marks are never deducted (well only if caught cheating or plagiarising) but the markers do NOT deduct marks. They simply don't award marks for irrelevant material.

They won't give an answer 5 and then deduct 2 because of waffle or irrelevancy. They simply ignore the wrong and the irrelevant and award as many marks as the criteria allows.

Sometimes the criteria can be very specific and correct answers that don't meet the criteria don't get marks e.g. in Modern (the subject I am most comfortable with) if a student was asked to identify three things in a trench from Source A and they listed three things normally found in a trench but not found in the trench in Source A then they would get no marks as they didn't meet the necessary criteria.

 

[pwoh]

They'd dock marks if you BS'd around something right and the BS contradicted it

Marks are never deducted (well only if caught cheating or plagiarising) but the markers do NOT deduct marks. They simply don't award marks for irrelevant material.

They won't give an answer 5 and then deduct 2 because of waffle or irrelevancy. They simply ignore the wrong and the irrelevant and award as many marks as the criteria allows.

Sometimes the criteria can be very specific and correct answers that don't meet the criteria don't get marks e.g. in Modern (the subject I am most comfortable with) if a student was asked to identify three things in a trench from Source A and they listed three things normally found in a trench but not found in the trench in Source A then they would get no marks as they didn't meet the necessary criteria.

Sorry my statement was unclear, what I meant was if you wrote two contradictory statements, then surely you wouldn't gain marks for stating one of them? That's what I've seen from marking in the sciences at my school anyway - is the same done in the HSC?

 

[cem]

Sorry my statement was unclear, what I meant was if you wrote two contradictory statements, then surely you wouldn't gain marks for stating one of them? That's what I've seen from marking in the sciences at my school anyway - is the same done in the HSC?

I suppose it depends on what else is written.

From my experience the incorrect part is simply ignored and credit given to the correct so that two sentences that are written where the writer says something like 'the element x means that y happens. y has no relationship to x.' I would expect 1/2 marks to be awarded as one sentence is correct but the other is wrong.

The BOS is very clear on saying that marks are to be awarded and to not award any marks because a student got confused or accidentally wrote 'no' instead of 'some' or something would be unfair and not give credit for the first correct point. At Modern History we are always told to remember that the students are writing their papers as 'first drafts, under exam conditions' so something that would be corrected in a second draft won't happen and therefore it is 'ignore the incorrect and give credit to the correct'.

Your teachers, like me, though are tougher at school to make sure that you are more conscious of the little mistakes that can cost marks and hopefully you won't make it in the final exam and therefore you would get both marks.

Remember I am not a Science teacher so am basing this explanation on what I have been told at Modern marking and by teachers who mark other subjects but I have never been in a formal instruction session for Science marking.

 

[bayan92]

Any tips for English and Maths?

Not my best subjects

 

[bayan92]

Obviously not for the humanities subjects, but for science you can get away with this as long as you're still writing proper English

It worked for both Geography and Business

 

[NewiJapper]

sorry, what do you mean by "scripts" ?

 

[cem]

sorry, what do you mean by "scripts" ?

This is the formal term used by the BOS and the markers for the essays etc that you write during the actual HSC exams.

 

[zzzz12345]

They'd dock marks if you BS'd around something right and the BS contradicted it

I was under the impression that this was the case for marking in HSC Chemistry (well so my teacher told me on numerous occasions last year), namely that you would lose marks for incorrect chemistry or contradictions even if they were unnecessary e.g. if you added in an extra unnecessary equation and wrote it wrong then you lose a mark. Don't know how accurate this is.