Software Design & Development: Scaling (2 Viewers)

[Mr Hippopotamus]

Why doesn't SDD scale as well as other subjects like Physics and Chemistry?

It really pisses me off since I reckon SDD is much, MUCH harder than Physics....and maybe even as difficult as Chemistry!

I do all three of those subjects...and I find SDD the most difficult subject...

 

[D94]

In the eyes of the Universities Admissions Centre, SDD does not rise to the level of difficulty shown in Physics and Chemistry. That's it.

The notion, choose subjects that you will enjoy, is predicated on the fact that you will most likely do well in subjects you enjoy.

The point of scaling (NB: this is different to aligning) is to 'fairly' compare student A's set of subjects to student B's set of subjects.

Whilst you may think it's hard, UAC has determined that SDD is not as difficult as Physics or Chemistry. You are obviously subjective in your analysis, when there are many thousands of students who probably found it easy. This may stem from your dislike of the subject, or that your school has not set appropriate assessments for Physics and Chemistry or even SDD.

UAC would not have determined SDD to be a low scaling subject if it was as difficult as Physics or Chemistry.

 

[Mr Hippopotamus]

@D94

Mate I love SDD...

But that doesn't change the fact it's difficult. At first I enjoyed the challenge, but lately, since just before the trials, it's starting to get annoying...and plus the fact it doesn't scale as well just adds salt to the wound!

I don't get how UAC thinks Physics is harder than SDD! Chemistry kinda is, but PHYSICS!?

It honestly requires you to THINK a lot more in SDD than in Physics....physics is all just memorising stuff.

 

[Duxify]

Scaling is a product of the "competition" in the subject rather than how easy or difficult the subject matter is....

For example:

There are 10,000 physics students and 10,000 visual arts students all of whom did English Advanced. If the physics students scored higher on average than the visual arts students, then physics would be 'scaled' higher than visual arts. Thus a 90 in physics is worth more in terms of ATAR calculation than a 90 in visual arts.

This process is performed over and over with different combinations to produce scaling factors for each subject....

So it really depends on who is doing the subject and how they perform in their other subjects rather than the subject matter itself.

 

[Duxify]

This is why you sometimes see random languages with only 500 students taking them scaled very highly... If those 500 students do really well in all their other subjects, that subject gets scaled up.

 

[D94]

Scaling is a product of the "competition" in the subject rather than how easy or difficult the subject matter is....
[...]
So it really depends on who is doing the subject and how they perform in their other subjects rather than the subject matter itself.

Yes, this is a better way of putting it.

Scaling is to fairly compare one set of subjects to another. When I say difficulty, I mean the result of the academic quality of students, as opposed to the actual subject content.

The scaling algorithm estimates what students’ marks would have been if all courses had been studied by all
students. The scaling model assumes that a student’s position in a course depends on the student’s developed
ability in that course and the ‘strength of the competition’. Since the ATAR is a rank that reflects
academic achievement, ‘strength of the competition’ is defined in terms of the demonstrated overall
academic attainment of a course candidature.

This is essentially saying the students doing SDD do worse on average than students doing Physics and/or Chemistry. But this does not necessarily disregards a subject's difficulty in terms of content. The candidature of Physics and Chemistry know their subject requires work and effort in order to achieve a higher mark. That mindset does not follow suit for the candidature of SDD as a whole, and this 'may' be a result of the candidature believing it is an easy course - you may disagree, but numerous other users have stated SDD is a really easy course.

 

[GoldyOrNugget]

This is essentially saying the students doing SDD do worse on average than students doing Physics and/or Chemistry. But this does not necessarily disregards a subject's difficulty in terms of content. The candidature of Physics and Chemistry know their subject requires work and effort in order to achieve a higher mark. That mindset does not follow suit for the candidature of SDD as a whole, and this 'may' be a result of the candidature believing it is an easy course - you may disagree, but numerous other users have stated SDD is a really easy course.

It's a vicious circle. SDD scales badly, so smart people don't pick it, so SDD marks are lower than other subjects, so SDD scales badly. There really should be an extension software design or a computer science course aimed at 4u maths-level students.

 

[GoldyOrNugget]

@D94

Mate I love SDD...

But that doesn't change the fact it's difficult. At first I enjoyed the challenge, but lately, since just before the trials, it's starting to get annoying...and plus the fact it doesn't scale as well just adds salt to the wound!

I don't get how UAC thinks Physics is harder than SDD! Chemistry kinda is, but PHYSICS!?

It honestly requires you to THINK a lot more in SDD than in Physics....physics is all just memorising stuff.

Which parts of SDD do you find difficult? Maybe your brain is just more suited to physics and chemistry. I think most people would say that physics is far more difficult.

 

[brent012]

It's a vicious circle. SDD scales badly, so smart people don't pick it, so SDD marks are lower than other subjects, so SDD scales badly. There really should be an extension software design or a computer science course aimed at 4u maths-level students.

Aligning is totally independent of candidature quality and SDD aligns averagely. I got 89/100 raw in 2011 which became 93.

 

[iJimmy]

different for each person, SDD is low scaling in UAC's opinion but individually its a matter of knowledge

 

[Mr Hippopotamus]

Which parts of SDD do you find difficult? Maybe your brain is just more suited to physics and chemistry. I think most people would say that physics is far more difficult.

algorithms/data structures...

I simply cannot do those questions where they ask you to CREATE a data structure to solve some problem....or WRITE/FIX an algorithm to make sure some program works properly....

those questions actually require you to understand the question fully before you answer them....whereas in physics/chemistry, as i said before, it's all memorising....the answers are set in stone...always the same old thing......I just dont get how SDD is considered EASY!!!

 

[wagig]

algorithms/data structures...

I simply cannot do those questions where they ask you to CREATE a data structure to solve some problem....or WRITE/FIX an algorithm to make sure some program works properly....

those questions actually require you to understand the question fully before you answer them....whereas in physics/chemistry, as i said before, it's all memorising....the answers are set in stone...always the same old thing......I just dont get how SDD is considered EASY!!!

^