Long Responses in Physics (1 Viewer)

[kvothe]

Hi,

For those who have done the physics HSC, or go to the 'elite' schools such as Ruse or Girra or Sydney Boys, I was wondering what is the general consensus for the best way to go about answering long response questions. I have heard a lot of hypothetical talk about it, but I want to know what the tried and tested method is.

The advice I'm getting from my teacher is to be concise. I have no problem with the content, no problem with the verbs, no problem with my language. What I do want to know is how to set out a good answer.

Are dot points a good idea as part of the answer? Tables? Are there some situations where they are good and some where they aren't as suitable? Or is it best to stick with prose?

My teachers always say get to the point, make it easy for the marker, use dot points and such whenever possible (except in discuss and assess questions).

Thanks!

 

[someth1ng]

If you are from PHS as I suspect, the advice I can give you is to not listen to your teacher.

 

[iBibah]

Hi,

For those who have done the physics HSC, or go to the 'elite' schools such as Ruse or Girra or Sydney Boys, I was wondering what is the general consensus for the best way to go about answering long response questions. I have heard a lot of hypothetical talk about it, but I want to know what the tried and tested method is.

The advice I'm getting from my teacher is to be concise. I have no problem with the content, no problem with the verbs, no problem with my language. What I do want to know is how to set out a good answer.

Are dot points a good idea as part of the answer? Tables? Are there some situations where they are good and some where they aren't as suitable? Or is it best to stick with prose?

My teachers always say get to the point, make it easy for the marker, use dot points and such whenever possible (except in discuss and assess questions).

Thanks!

Dotpoint form is the best. Physics doesn't take into account the bullshit associated with English.

Even assess (and discuss) questions, have a first heading 'Advantages', second heading 'Disadvantages', and third heading 'Assessment'. It's as straight forward as that. Check here: http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=300237

Just make sure your answer flows, even when in dotpoint form.

 

[someth1ng]

R, I got rank 1 in physics last year (93) and the best advice I can give you is that you must ANSWER THE QUESTION - the reason why PHS does so bad is because 90% of them don't answer the question. I saw many of them answer questions and they were WAY OFF.

 

[Fizzy_Cyst]

If you are from PHS as I suspect, the advice I can give you is to not listen to your teacher.

If you dont mind me asking, why such advice? Is the main Physics teacher at Penrith an asswipe?

For OP:

According to all the conferences which I have attended, dot points are fine. I tell my students to follow the structure as such 'IDEAAL' - Identify, Describe, Explain, Analyse, Assess, Link. (IF ANY OF YOU BASTIDS STEEL IT I KEEEL JOO) -- probably similar to the PHS way anyway, which I believe is the STEAL method -- awesome for English, but still somewhat applicable for Sciences.

For 5+ marks, you really need to ensure that your answer is coherent and follows a logical sequence. Look at the notes from the markers for the past HSC examinations -- you cannot get much better feedback than that.

Dotpoint form is the best. Physics doesn't take into account the bullshit associated with English.

Even assess (and discuss) questions, have a first heading 'Advantages', second heading 'Disadvantages', and third heading 'Assessment'. It's as straight forward as that. Check here: http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=300237

Just make sure your answer flows, even when in dotpoint form.

You have SOOOOOOOO been listening to me <3

 

[kvothe]

Dotpoint form is the best. Physics doesn't take into account the bullshit associated with English.

Even assess (and discuss) questions, have a first heading 'Advantages', second heading 'Disadvantages', and third heading 'Assessment'. It's as straight forward as that. Check here: http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=300237

Just make sure your answer flows, even when in dotpoint form.

Thanks for that, that is basically what I have been doing. My answers definitely do flow, debating and such actually helps to get a logical thought progression going.

R, I got rank 1 in physics last year (93) and the best advice I can give you is that you must ANSWER THE QUESTION - the reason why PHS does so bad is because 90% of them don't answer the question. I saw many of them answer questions and they were WAY OFF.

Oh hi! Oh really? All the time our teachers spend telling us to do these bullshit circle this and put a box around that methods and we still can't manage to answer the question? Thanks for your advice.

If you dont mind me asking, why such advice? Is the main Physics teacher at Penrith an asswipe?

For OP:

According to all the conferences which I have attended, dot points are fine. I tell my students to follow the structure as such 'IDEAAL' - Identify, Describe, Explain, Analyse, Assess, Link. (IF ANY OF YOU BASTIDS STEEL IT I KEEEL JOO) -- probably similar to the PHS way anyway, which I believe is the STEAL method -- awesome for English, but still somewhat applicable for Sciences.

For 5+ marks, you really need to ensure that your answer is coherent and follows a logical sequence. Look at the notes from the markers for the past HSC examinations -- you cannot get much better feedback than that.



You have SOOOOOOOO been listening to me <3

Kids at Penrith are a lot smarter than their science results suggest -- just look at their maths and english marks, heck, any of their other marks. We do really well, just not at science. I hope to change that.

Thanks for the structure, I will definitely keep it in mind. I have never used one before, but maybe it well help me keep focussed on the question and only the question.

 

[someth1ng]

If you dont mind me asking, why such advice? Is the main Physics teacher at Penrith an asswipe?

Well, yes. I was one of two to B6 in physics and the only one to B6 in both physics and chemistry - to be honest, I wasn't even that great and there should have been around 10 more to B6 in each of those subjects.

 

[someth1ng]

Oh hi! Oh really? All the time our teachers spend telling us to do these bullshit circle this and put a box around that methods and we still can't manage to answer the question? Thanks for your advice.

Yeah, I'm serious. Just because you put a box and lines and circles around aspects of a question, doesn't mean that you will answer the question.

The only times I did this was when there were multiple aspects of the question that I needed to answer, some very big questions (some 5+ markers) and the only time I planned was for some 5+ markers where my plan consisted of mostly keywords (usually 10-15 keywords).

By the way, I used ALL the time in the exam - most people that didn't do well finished early.