To do or not to do Extension History? How much time involved? Wort?h it? (1 Viewer)

[talisman]

Hi History extensioners!

I'm actually in Year 11 right now but it'd be awesome to work out if I should do History Extension next year or not. I'll actually be doing 9 units next year (accelerating 3 units this year) and History Extension might be one of them. I was wondering

• is it time consuming?
• how many hours a night?
• does it improve your writing as fabled by history teachers?
• or should i just super focus on my modern history?

I will only have 9 units next year so you'd think time wouldn't be an issue but I don't even care about any subject that isn't maths right now so I'll have catching up to do I guess.

 

[LoveHateSchool]

Is it time consuming?
Many people claim that it really is, I guess it depends on your ability in it and how much you put into it. Personally I found it not a ridiculous of work, but disproportionate for a 1u subject. Like you have a major project but still have to do the historiography part and the HSC exam. Not really a concern for you as it'll be your ninth unit, you can get really absorbed into your history project.
How many hours a night?
Haha a night? A few hours a week
Does it improve your writing as fabled by history teachers?
I personally found it not too, but they will swear up and down that it will. Some people it does make them better essay writers though.
Or should i just super focus on my modern history?
I personally found this to be my path. I don't mesh well with my modern teacher's style, so I preferred to just focus on my 2u history.

That said you have a keen interest to do it, try it, you'll either love or hate it! Obvs I wasn't a fan but some people love it, so just give it a try and you can always drop after a term if you're like me

 

[talisman]

you do have a lot of units. i guess it also depends on the teacher. MAJOR PROJECT BOO YEAAAA i love projects YAYAY. i won't be so full of joy when it comes round to doing it though

 

[naldeer]

Hi History extensioners!

I'm actually in Year 11 right now but it'd be awesome to work out if I should do History Extension next year or not. I'll actually be doing 9 units next year (accelerating 3 units this year) and History Extension might be one of them. I was wondering

• is it time consuming?
• how many hours a night?
• does it improve your writing as fabled by history teachers?
• or should i just super focus on my modern history?

I will only have 9 units next year so you'd think time wouldn't be an issue but I don't even care about any subject that isn't maths right now so I'll have catching up to do I guess.

Hi there Linny!

I'm a History Ext Student myself. I have been blessed with a fantastic History Ext. Teacher who is currently working on her PhD. I am also lucky because it's only a small class (naturally) of 3, like minded Historians.

1: An annoying question. If you want to do well (E4), then yes. Very, very time consuming. You have to be independent in this course, that means going to university's and trawling (for hours on end) through their libraries. You have to read widely, which may seem easy for some but when you have exams or an assessment, you should not be reading anything unrelated to that exam etc. The case study is your first test. You need to be prepared to put in at least 40 hours on this overall. This includes initial research on historians + proposal and Logs. The Project, in all it's monolithic difficulty and glory is at least, overall an entire week's worth of work. To project is very time consuming because it is supposed to be challenging and on a undergradtuate, first year Uni, level of difficulty.
2: Ideally, you should not study for this every night (Shock Horror). If you are, like me, dealing with a complex question for the Project (the concept of Sonderweg) then you should not study for it every night because trust me - you will scream. The complexity of subject, the pursuit of technical perfection (Maestro, anyone - english?!) is largely dependent on how good your research is and now the hours you spend at home, each night studying.
3: Haven't done this... Yet. But I have been ensured that by the end of this course you can expect to be writing at a 1st year uni level (you should be able to blitz your fellow Ancient/Modern History colleagues).
4: Have a go! It took me a few months to get into it but when things start to "click" it does start to become super fun. Your knowledge of history, hopefully from your wide readings the next year, will expand immeasurably.

This is subject best illustrates the point of what you put in, is what you get out.

 

[scarvesss]

yes do it. best history subject if you get into it. i have found that just reading the style of writing from historians and such just makes your writing so much better because you naturally attempt to replicate them, even if it is mediocre in comparison to them. i personally enjoy the subject but it is a lot of work if you want to do well. all the reading and note taking you need can just be a bit excessive for 1 unit. The major work on the other hand, i havent found to be that bad. i usually do 1 or 2 posts a week, but recently with exams i havent touched it. in the christmas holidays if you just do a tonne of research then you'll find that you will be ahead. my teacher seems to think im almost done right now (even though i think the opposite). all in all, its one of the most interesting subjects ive ever done, and will definitely benefit you if you do well.

 

[zxreth]

loved the major project. loved jfk section. hated the rest. got 43/50, was satisfied.

 

[D94]

• is it time consuming?
• how many hours a night?
• does it improve your writing as fabled by history teachers?
• or should i just super focus on my modern history?

I did Extension History last year;

1) no, not really. It "appears" time consuming because teachers give unnecessary amounts of reading materials to students, and expect students to read them all. In reality, you can vet out the appropriate sources (hence the point of the Project) and utilise them for the HSC.

For those who say "it's a lot of work for a 1 unit subject", they seriously need to vet out the unnecessary amounts of sources and focus on the valid, reliable, relevant sources, and not be overwhelmed by the large amounts their teachers are giving them. If you don't know how quickly evaluate the effectiveness and relevancy of each source, then you're wasting your time.

For those doing it this year, you'll learn by HSC time, what sources you need and what sources you don't need. You'll learn what arguments and historiography you'll need and adapt to each given exam text. Obviously I have the benefit of hindsight, but the main thing is to don't be overwhelmed, vet out unnecessary sources and have a line of argument/historiography.

2) tbh, I reckon you only need 3 hours per week (excluding class time), but in three 1 hour blocks. (1 hour for Historiography, 1 hour for Case Study, 1 hour for Project)

3) good writing is a prerequisite. Extension is a subject based on written arguments (ie. it's a written exam). It might slightly improve your writing, but don't expect to do well if you can't string decent sentences together.

4) I found that it helped my MH, plus, it's a straightforward 1 unit subject, so if you can do well in MH, I'm sure you can translate that to a good performance in Extension.

 

[alyssa21]

I'm doing HistoryExtension at the moment, and even though it took me until a couple of weeks into this term to start to enjoy it, I absolutely love the content we cover and the Project now.

1) Is it time consuming?
Comparative to some other subjects, yes. HistoryExtension requires complexity in your thinking and analysis, and in order to reach these levels of complexity, a fair amount of reading is required. I think it's a fair bit of work for 1unit, but if you enjoy it, it won't feel too bad.

How many hours a night?
I don't work on HistExt every night, I mostly save it for weekends. As with all majors, you're meant to be consistently progressing with your Project, but most people save it to do in bunches when other assessments aren't as pressing. Keeping up with notes for your historians also helps- although I've kept all proper notes on What Is History to do these holidays!

Does it improve your writing as fabled by history teachers?
I believe HistExt is very different in nature to Modern History [I don't do Ancient]- the approach is entirely different. It definitely helps to enrich your understanding of historical terms and concepts, gives you extra writing + argumentative essay practice, and teaches you how to form effective theses with well-picked evidence. I'm not sure how much it's improved my writing as such, but definitely my historical understanding.

Should I just super-focus on Modern?
Modern History is a subject which I love probably more than HistoryExtension, but HistExt has, as I've written, allowed me to further understand the concepts of Modern. I don't think you 'need' HistExt to excel in Modern, but if you enjoy History and have the interest/effort/commitment to work on a major, I'd definitely recommend it. It might take a while to get into it at the start of the course, but you come to really enjoy it!

 

[ncoul]

Any more insight/opinions?

 

[lpower3]

Like most subjects it all depends on how much time you put into it. If you put enough time into it and are prepared to prepare and refine your essays enough the board will reward you with a pretty good atar (depending on your results in other subjects of course). If you do want to do well, it does take a lot of work. So far i have found that the "what is history?" topic has been much more time-consuming then the major work. I have between about 10 and 15 essays that are each ~1500 words long so you really have to prepared to put hours in.
In regards to the myth about it increasing your essay-writing abilities. When writing so many essays over a consistent period, naturally your essay writing skills will increase. I have found that my results in courses such as Modern History and Economics have increased as a result of Ext.
Finally, if you choose the right major work and put enough hours in, this course is really enjoyable. I have found that it has changed my worldview on several issues which is something i didn't expect :s

Choose it

 

[crystalgee]

Extension history, wow. Well I am currently studying it and trust me, you will be up against some fierce competition to come out on top. I am actually procrastinating because I should be doing the major work which is due in less than two weeks. With just having half yearlies, I am obviously half way through the course. Let me tell you, to be perfectly blunt, the first half was horrible! Because it is an extension subject picked up in year 12 it runs off line which means you will either study it before or after school. This is the second subject I study out of regular school hours and an hour of your time doesn't seem like a lot but it is actually a big committment. You said you were doing modern history, I don't know how similar assessment tasks are between schools but in the preliminary year both modern and ancient history had a research essay to complete on a topic of the choice respective of the history they were studying. That is basically the assessment, it is just longer and requires A LOT more time.
With the class work, if your teacher gives you articles to read, READ THEM! They actually serve a purpose haha Also I suggest to keep a book of quotes. Here's how you sum up the study of history in a nutshell, 50% quotes from other historians, 30% you saying how the opinions conflict/contrast/argue etc. and 20% the use of big nouns, adjectives and verbs to give the appearance of a sophisticated piece of writing.
It isn't a hard subject, and being a creative writer does help you but the best thing about the subject is that you cannot be wrong. There are many types of historians, your classic empiricists like Ranke, relativists like Hayden White and the (argueably unfavourable) post modernists and you can be like any one of them, write like them, present valid evidence and achieve full marks or close to it.
It is the only course offered at high school that even slightly resembles one at university (however your teacher will probably spoon-feed you as they do with all HSC students).
Bottom line, it is unlike the history you study now. Nothing like it. If you want to dig deep and discover for yourself your writing capabilities and the way other historians write and their motives then this is most definately the course for you. If not, well I suppose you can always drop it at the end of term four.
Good luck

 

[D94]

With the class work, if your teacher gives you articles to read, READ THEM! They actually serve a purpose haha Also I suggest to keep a book of quotes. Here's how you sum up the study of history in a nutshell, 50% quotes from other historians, 30% you saying how the opinions conflict/contrast/argue etc. and 20% the use of big nouns, adjectives and verbs to give the appearance of a sophisticated piece of writing.

I disagree with this, especially from experience.

XH inherently requires students to take a line of argument. Hence, you need to vet out information/sources which aren't necessary to your line of argument, so reading everything is just a waste of time. Since there isn't a rebuttal (ie. it's an essay not a two-way debate), you need as much evidence to back up your line of argument.

And with the percentages etc.; it's 80% your opinion backed up by the use of case studies, historians, debates, ideologies etc. You use the source as a framework for your argument and utilise historians to strengthen your argument. I highly doubt markers would want to see a block of quotes from historians; they want to see your line of argument and what your interpretation of history is and what you make of the case study. I don't think markers would want me to write down half the Aeneid or the History of the Peloponnesian War, nor do I think markers would want to read a thesaurus. The best arguments flow freely and can be understood by those with a decent sense of logic.

Sophistication comes from the way you incorporate the source with your line of argument backed up by debates, historians etc. It is good to include higher order words, but there's no point in doing so without a strong thesis and without strong premises.

 

[talisman]

WOW thanks so much for all your insightful comments. i've completely neglected this thread for a while (didn't subscribe to it for some reason). overall, it seems that history extension isn't really time consuming as long as there is effective time management/organisation (as with most things).

it's definitely something i'd like to delve deep into. I passionately love studying history, and not just history as a fact-machine, but the historical process etc which is why i really want to do it. I guess for now, I have to wait and see how it weighs up when I hit Year 12.

I do already have ideas figured out for the Project (Titanic) + I'll be wading waist-high in Titanic info because it's my modern history personal study as well (will not be the same of course)

With the class work, if your teacher gives you articles to read, READ THEM! They actually serve a purpose haha Also I suggest to keep a book of quotes. Here's how you sum up the study of history in a nutshell, 50% quotes from other historians, 30% you saying how the opinions conflict/contrast/argue etc. and 20% the use of big nouns, adjectives and verbs to give the appearance of a sophisticated piece of writing.

sounds like fab idea. I'm in the process of having a "book" for certain subjects e.g. - maths for tips, questions to re-visit/ask about

Once again thanks for the input guys. Hearing from those involved will be a great help

 

[PANDAads]

Every subject is time consuming. History Extension though is so great. I never thought i'd enjoy it this much. It's so different from any other subject that i've ever studied. Along with the course itself, it teaches you how to approach life. Like how to deal with bitchy situations and why people say what they say etc etc.
Time consuming and hard is something you'll have to figure out yourself. There's a history project that will take up A LOT of time if you do it properly and really wanna get those high marks in it. There is a lot of work but it's fun too. It just depends if you're committed and like your teacher as well. It does improve your writing, you write differently, more sophisticatedly and more analytical, that's what I found anyway. But then again, you can do that with modern by writing essays all the time.

try it out, definitely, if you're interested, keep it, if not, then don't waste your time or your teacher's time. BUT, YES, it's a fabulous subject and i'm so glad I did it.

 

[inJust]

Lol what trolls


Re: To do or not to do Extension History? How much time involved? Wort?h it?

Yes. Yes it is. I'm doing it and its awesome.

1) Is it time consuming?
Not at all. My major was due the first day back from term 3 holidays. So I worked on it in the 2 week holidays. Got 39/40 (first rank). Studying wise, I just had to get my head around the concepts and developed my own opinion. This took a few hours a week for like the first term, then I could bludge.

How many hours a night?
Maybe half an hour of reading a night?

Does it improve your writing as fabled by history teachers?
I reckon it does. Not only that but it makes you a well rounded person, aware of life ndat.

Should I just super-focus on Modern?
Neh, modern is boring. I do it, and although I'm first, history extension just seems to tickle my pickle.

 

[StephanieMit]

I'm thinking to do it as well. I already do ancient and modern history so I could maybe try extension history?