School assessments being too easy? (1 Viewer)

[Lieutenant_21]

Is it possible for the student to do anything about this issue? If the school assessments are not as difficult as the syllabus allows it to be can the student do anything, i.e. talk to the teachers, etc? This is happening at my brothers school and all the students, dumb and smart, are getting very high marks. I think this can lead to unfair judgement of the students' actual level compared to other students and ultimately lead to affecting the students ATAR especially at low ranked schools. Does the BOS have anything to say about this? I believe that the assessments should be difficult/long so that only the good students can do well and hence it is easier to distinguish between the students and give them fair ranks etc...

 

[Hazballs]

Someone correct me if i'm wrong, but i'm pretty sure that your internal marks get scaled up or down (not sure if this is the right word?) according to how you do in the HSC.. E.g. Your internal assessment mark is 70 say (all the exams that were set were really hard) and then in the HSC you get 95, i think the internal assessment mark gets brought up and visa versa with high assessment mark, low hsc mark.. But i could be wrong so yeah

 

[wannabesurgeon]

Someone correct me if i'm wrong, but i'm pretty sure that your internal marks get scaled up or down (not sure if this is the right word?) according to how you do in the HSC.. E.g. Your internal assessment mark is 70 say (all the exams that were set were really hard) and then in the HSC you get 95, i think the internal assessment mark gets brought up and visa versa with high assessment mark, low hsc mark.. But i could be wrong so yeah

I think that is correct.

" the assessment marks for each course in each school are moderated according to the examination performance of the group of students in the school. The moderation process adjusts the assessments submitted by the school so that the mean (or average) of the group’s assessments is set to equal the mean of the examination marks obtained by the students in that group, and so that the top assessment mark is equal to the highest examination mark obtained by a student in the group." http://www.users.on.net/~unix/HSCmarks.pdf

 

[OMGITzJustin]

nothing really gets brought up or down, they moderated depending on how well you and your chort does in the hsc exam

 

[RealiseNothing]

If easy tests allow the "dumb" students to get high marks then this is a very bad thing. It can (will) affect the top students who aren't 1st/2nd as their school hasn't differentiated between them and the "dumb" students enough to allow BOS to give them an internal mark reflective of their ability.

tl:dr marks will get moderated down.

 

[RishBonjour]

If easy tests allow the "dumb" students to get high marks then this is a very bad thing. It can (will) affect the top students who aren't 1st/2nd as their school hasn't differentiated between them and the "dumb" students enough to allow BOS to give them an internal mark reflective of their ability.

tl:dr marks will get moderated down.

not if you are first. But if the tests are shit easy that idiots tie for first, thats another story. Usually though, it isn't like that.

 

[BigBadBader]

john is an idiot, yes?
school marks = 85+ (tests are easy)
HSC exam = <70

his marks will get met under halfway if this is true for the cohort, if only him it will be a fair average.

 

[Lieutenant_21]

john is an idiot, yes?
school marks = 85+ (tests are easy)
HSC exam = <70

his marks will get met under halfway if this is true for the cohort, if only him it will be a fair average.

We know this... here we are worried about the idiots getting high ranks and the hard working, smart students don't stand out and get the rank they deserve because the SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS are too easy. It is usually because the teacher is an idiot (<20 IQ) and can't make or mark a hard paper.

 

[darkfenrir]

We know this... here we are worried about the idiots getting high ranks and the hard working, smart students don't stand out and get the rank they deserve because the SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS are too easy. It is usually because the teacher is an idiot (<20 IQ) and can't make or mark a hard paper.

god that cracked me up hahaha

There is indeed a massive problem if idiots are amongst the ranks of intellectuals, this must be fixed!

at my school though its another story, its all intellectuals who cant be differentiated lol, or rather, its super difficult to differentiate them -_-

 

[Lieutenant_21]

god that cracked me up hahaha

There is indeed a massive problem if idiots are amongst the ranks of intellectuals, this must be fixed!

at my school though its another story, its all intellectuals who cant be differentiated lol, or rather, its super difficult to differentiate them -_-

I REALLY wish that the board of studies write the school assessments and make them as difficult as the syllabus allows them to be then give the teachers marking criteria to mark them. That is how they fix the problem.

 

[RealiseNothing]

I REALLY wish that the board of studies write the school assessments and make them as difficult as the syllabus allows them to be then give the teachers marking criteria to mark them. That is how they fix the problem.

Or you could tell the teachers to make harder tests lol. My teacher set harder extension maths tests cos I wanted it but it fucked everyone else up, class average was like 30%.

 

[SpiralFlex]

I REALLY wish that the board of studies write the school assessments and make them as difficult as the syllabus allows them to be then give the teachers marking criteria to mark them. That is how they fix the problem.

That would cause more trouble I'm afraid. The system itself is as fair as it will ever go in my opinion. It is hard to write one exam for a variety of schools at different stages of the year because schools set topics in different order and learn things differently. Our internal/external system is as fair as it will get.

 

[Lieutenant_21]

That would cause more trouble I'm afraid. The system itself is as fair as it will ever go in my opinion. It is hard to write one exam for a variety of schools at different stages of the year because schools set topics in different order and learn things differently. Our internal/external system is as fair as it will get.

Then what do you think about the BOS setting difficulty standards that the schools have to follow?
No matter how difficult the tests get, what matters is the rank... so I think the BOS should force schools to make the exams as difficult as the syllabus allows.
I can see many problems with my initial idea, it is more expensive, people can cheat from other schools etc... but I don't see major flaws with my second idea, what do you think spiral =)

 

[Lieutenant_21]

Or you could tell the teachers to make harder tests lol. My teacher set harder extension maths tests cos I wanted it but it fucked everyone else up, class average was like 30%.

My brother spoke to the teacher and his teacher was like "we don't want to scare students away, if the tests are hard everyone will drop" wtf? It is meant to be hard you %#^@!#%@!#%
He then spoke with the principal but no reply lol.

 

[SpiralFlex]

Then what do you think about the BOS setting difficulty standards that the schools have to follow?
No matter how difficult the tests get, what matters is the rank... so I think the BOS should force schools to make the exams as difficult as the syllabus allows.
I can see many problems with my initial idea, it is more expensive, people can cheat from other schools etc... but I don't see major flaws with my second idea, what do you think spiral =)

Setting difficult exams may separate the top and average students quite well, but I don't think it will be a good separator for the bottom to average people. But I'm sure students like yourself would love an exceptionally hard test all the time - but not many teachers can actually make hard exams.

 

[RishBonjour]

Setting difficult exams may separate the top and average students quite well, but I don't think it will be a good separator for the bottom to average people. But I'm sure students like yourself would love an exceptionally hard test all the time - but not many teachers can actually make hard exams.

very true.

the system right now is fair and quite efficient.

 

[Lieutenant_21]

OK...

 

[SpiralFlex]

OK...

I know it may seem unfair if you are experiencing this, but the only things you can really do is either:

1. Beg for a difficult exam (which may offend the teacher or some students)

2. Write a letter to the Board of Studies

3. Simply ignoring it and focus on minimising errors.

I think the third option is more time efficient

 

[RealiseNothing]

Or do a carrotsticks lol

 

[Lieutenant_21]

Or do a carrotsticks lol

Out of curiosity, how much did you get on his trial paper?