Scaling Question (1 Viewer)

[lisraeli]

Hey everyone, I'm new here, so please don't regard me as a moron for asking a question that has probably already been asked =)

I've been searching this site trying to find some information on the system of scaling, and the difference of scaling in different subjects... I can't seem to find the exact answer I'm looking for. I was posting this wondering if anyone could explain to me the scaling process? How marks are ajusted and allinged. I've read in some texts that the performace of the school will affect your marks, and the average school mark will affect your marks, the mean of the state etc etc, I'm not really sure how the process goes...
The only thing I'm aware of is how the internal school marks are ajusted to the HSC external mark, with the internal ranking alligning to the corresponding external HSC exam, counting 50%.
Sorry for the hastle but it was be great if somebody could fill me in on the whole process of scaling the marks, and how the UAI is calculated. Thanks a lot

 

[kami]

Hey lisraeli, it works something like this:
Your HSC exam marks are the standard for the entire state to measure up against as you don't know how hard each teacher marks or how hard the assessment questions were. This means your assessment mark that your school or TAFE sends in will be moderated using the data from your performance in the HSC exam and your comparative performance to your classmates throughout the year. Then two things happen:

1. the average of these marks(your moderated assessment mark and your HSC mark) will be sent to UAC in each subject, and then scaled. These scaled marks will be used for you UAI. How well a subject scales is decided by measuring how the students in an entire subject performed comparatively to students in other subjects.
2. your moderated assessment mark and your HSC mark will also be aligned by the Board of Studies into bands and this is what will be sent to you on your certificate.

Hope this explains everything.

 

[lisraeli]

Yeah that kind've explains it. I thought the school only sends in your positions, not your assesment marks? If thats what youre saying then I already knew what you were explaining I'm just trying to find out how the scaling process is done when the UAC already has your marks

 

[kami]

Yeah that kind've explains it. I thought the school only sends in your positions, not your assesment marks? If thats what youre saying then I already knew what you were explaining I'm just trying to find out how the scaling process is done when the UAC already has your marks

Sort of - the school does send in marks, but they are analysed comparatively rather than directly.

Scaling for the non extension subjects is basically a comparison how each person in each subject did in each of their subjects compared to people in others subjects, UAC correlates the data until they have enough information till they can guess at what it would have been like if *all* students sat *all* subjects and tinker with the marks accordingly to reflect student skills rather than test difficulty.

With extension subjects it is much more simple - they compare how an Extension 1 candidate performs in the 2u paper compared to the the people sitting the 2u subject and thus UAC will scale up the Extension 1 course if they perform better in that then the average 2uer. With Extension 2 subjects its basically the same except those candidates get compared to the Extension 1 people's performance in the Ext 1 paper.

Thats as good a way as I can think to explain it to you, so I hope its what you wanted.

 

[Ragerunner]

Have a read of this thread.

This should explain most of what you want to know.

If you have any questions, or can't interpret what some parts mean, feel free to ask questions.

 

[Lazarus]

Just thought I'd say that kami explained the scaling system quite well.

You might also find this flowchart to be helpful.

 

[lisraeli]

Yeah that pretty much explains it. Thanks a lot guys. One more question though, assuming my internal position gives me my correct allinged HSC mark (as in if I came 1st internally and get the 1st highest external mark, or if I came 3rd and got the 3rd highest external mark) does the performace of my school/class affect my UAI/marks? If so, how?