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Can markers screw up your mark (2 Viewers)

BOSBOY

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Oh okay I get it.
So short responses aren't double marked right right.

Hey maths isn't double marked, is it? And physics?
The single marked courses are Maths (all courses), Sciences (all courses), Software Design, IP&T.

But in all those subjects the marks are monitored by senior markers who make spot checks on each marker to ensure they are marking accurately.
 

helper

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How the sciences work

At the start of marking a Senior marker checks the guidelines against a group of sample papers and makes recommendations for changes
2 or 3 pilot markers come in and check the guidelines against more papers and recommend any changes and identify common types of response or errors in responses.
Markers come in and are taught the scheme and for the first few days all papers are double marked, either by the marker and senior marker or check markers.

The first thing markers do is check that all papers are present and in correct order.

Random papers are sent round between markers to check to see if they are consistent.

After first couple of days the papers are check marked. That is at least one paper from a group is checked. The longer the question, the more papers that are checked.

During all marking, any contentious or border line answers are discussed with at least one other marker. That also goes for answers that can't be read easily.

If a group is more than about 25, then it is split into two or more groups, to ensure different markers do part of it, to enable statistical checking.

All marking is scanned and senior marker is provided with statistics that show if a markers average is different to the group, if sd is different or if they are awarding a certain mark more than others. If that is the case, then the senior markers discusses it with the marker and checks more papers.

If at the end of marking a persons paper is statistically different to where expected for their group or for a specific question, then they are check marked again by the senior marker.
 

cem

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This point needs some clarification. Questions are either single marked or double marked, depending on the complexity and maximum mark value of the question, or whether the answer is objective (like Maths and Science). If a question is double marked, then EVERY response is double marked, including those essays given a low mark by the first marker.

(This may have been obvious in cem's comments, but it could have been inferred that just because a student gets a low mark then the markers don't bother with a second marking. That is not the case.)
Thanks for picking that up - yes the mark that I am referring to is the maximum mark for the question not the awarded mark.

Responses where the maximum mark available is 10 or more are always double marked but responses where the maximum marks available is 10 or less then they are generally single marked these days - even if they require some interpretation.
 

Cloesd

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Markers probably have some level of care. Not just for professionalism, but surely they have to realise they're marking somebody's future ...
I can't imagine this being true. A marker marks 100s of pieces of work, the ability to care about what happens to each and every one of those people's future is not humanly possible (see that monkey's sphere article).
 

00iCon

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In case you wanted to know, a Business Studies techer told us that he gets an hour to mark 4 reports. That's fifteen minutes each, sometimes they're like 10 pages long!:jaw:
 

cem

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In case you wanted to know, a Business Studies techer told us that he gets an hour to mark 4 reports. That's fifteen minutes each, sometimes they're like 10 pages long!:jaw:
That sounds like absolute heaven - 4 an hour! I would get bored though as I mark about 10 essays an hour and that is when they are 12 - 16 pages, and I am a slow marker. I mark Modern History so maybe it is easier to read than a business report.
 

mahomey

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That sounds like absolute heaven - 4 an hour! I would get bored though as I mark about 10 essays an hour and that is when they are 12 - 16 pages, and I am a slow marker. I mark Modern History so maybe it is easier to read than a business report.
how old are you?
how old are hsc markers generally?
 

evil_kitten

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In the HSC exams, every paper is double marked. They then compare the two marks to see if they are very different. If they're more than I think it was 4 marks apart, they get re-marked again.
I don't know about with the in school marks, but they generally pay more attention to marking each and sometimes writing advice/ opinions.
 

helper

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In the HSC exams, every paper is double marked. They then compare the two marks to see if they are very different. If they're more than I think it was 4 marks apart, they get re-marked again.
I don't know about with the in school marks, but they generally pay more attention to marking each and sometimes writing advice/ opinions.
Read the earlier posts, only what they call long answer questions are double mark. Sciences are not all double marked but are checked mark.

Not sure if the last paragraph means they write advice or opinions at school or marking. They don't at marking
 

greenie1113

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im pretty sure each paper gets marked 3-4 times...well thats what i got told anyway =/
 

BOSBOY

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In the HSC exams, every paper is double marked. They then compare the two marks to see if they are very different. If they're more than I think it was 4 marks apart, they get re-marked again.
It's already been explained above that only extended responses are double marked.

The allowed tolerance is 1/3 of the mark range. So if the maximum mark is 15, the allowed tolerance is 5. If the two markers award the student 9 and 13 (difference less than 5) then the simple average (11) is awarded.

If the difference is bigger than 5 then a third marker is called in, and the senior marker takes all three marks into consideration when deciding on the awarded mark.
 

BOSBOY

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i'm afraid your teacher is wrong. if you pay, they remark the exam at a later stage after all the central marking. if i remember correctly, you get a form to do this included with your hsc results. it's expensive, but potentially worth it.

and dont worry about getting a worse mark, they give you the better of the two marks, regardless.
No, I'm afraid you are wrong. There is no provision to re-mark any HSC examination.

With their results, students receive a clerical recheck application. This is a check that the marks awarded by the markers have been correctly added together and entered into the computer. Nothing is ever re-marked.

Here is an old one:
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/clerical_recheck_notice.pdf
 

cem

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It's already been explained above that only extended responses are double marked.

The allowed tolerance is 1/3 of the mark range. So if the maximum mark is 15, the allowed tolerance is 5. If the two markers award the student 9 and 13 (difference less than 5) then the simple average (11) is awarded.

If the difference is bigger than 5 then a third marker is called in, and the senior marker takes all three marks into consideration when deciding on the awarded mark.

That process varies a bit from subject to subject.

Modern History the SM is called in after the first two markers have marked and if they are discrepant.
 

niloony

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if i remember correctly, you get a form to do this included with your hsc results. it's expensive, but potentially worth it.
From what i've heard your papers will have already been destroyed by then. Though a recount can sometimes help for example my mum had a recount on her economics paper and they awarded her enough extra marks to get her into law lol.

However in that case her mark was obvisouly wrong when she first got it.
 

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