Teachers and Bos in regards to marking (2 Viewers)

[SpreadTheWord]

When your teacher submits your ranks/ marks, etc. Will the Bos automatically calculate it themselves following the weighting guidelines given by the school?

The reason i ask is; because each module weighs 25%, but i believe my teacher has stuffed up and included possibly 35% for a module, 20% for a module, etc.

Now if this were to happen, if i stuffed my trial ( which i did) and the teacher has included extra weighting that doesn't balance the correct Bos requirements, this could have screwed me over in terms of ranking. (which it has by like 0.5 % between me and the person ahead)

 

[cem]

When your teacher submits your ranks/ marks, etc. Will the Bos automatically calculate it themselves following the weighting guidelines given by the school?

The reason i ask is; because each module weighs 25%, but i believe my teacher has stuffed up and included possibly 35% for a module, 20% for a module, etc.

Now if this were to happen, if i stuffed my trial ( which i did) and the teacher has included extra weighting that doesn't balance the correct Bos requirements, this could have screwed me over in terms of ranking. (which it has by like 0.5 % between me and the person ahead)

The school only sends in one mark - the one it calculates based on the weightings they have used for each task.

Schools don't send in the marks for each task with the weightings they give the task. If you think the school has stuffed up you need to get it checked now as marks are being submitted at the moment and teachers will be signing off on them before the end of term.

We submit ONE mark only - the final mark.

 

[Official]

The school only sends in one mark - the one it calculates based on the weightings they have used for each task.

Schools don't send in the marks for each task with the weightings they give the task. If you think the school has stuffed up you need to get it checked now as marks are being submitted at the moment and teachers will be signing off on them before the end of term.

We submit ONE mark only - the final mark.

Are the people who get for example, 90.4 course mark be the same rank as those who get 89.6 in the end?

 

[cem]

Are the people who get for example, 90.4 course mark be the same rank as those who get 89.6 in the end?

That will depend on how your school decides to send in the marks. At my school they will probably separate them but some schools might not separate them and send them both in with 90.

 

[SpreadTheWord]

Are the people who get for example, 90.4 course mark be the same rank as those who get 89.6 in the end?

I know relatively little in regards to the process, but I have heard that anything above and below 0.5 will be rounded to the closest significant number. I think it's a good system, but I believe the way your final mark becomes influenced by others is a major flaw within the system. Just my thoughts though.

 

[Shadowdude]

I know relatively little in regards to the process, but I have heard that anything above and below 0.5 will be rounded to the closest significant number. I think it's a good system, but I believe the way your final mark becomes influenced by others is a major flaw within the system. Just my thoughts though.

Please describe to me how the internal moderation system is a major flaw - if that's what you mean when you say 'final mark influenced by others'.

 

[4025808]

Please describe to me how the internal moderation system is a major flaw - if that's what you mean when you say 'final mark influenced by others'.

It's probably because that people might work really hard throughout the year until the end of the trials, where they'll start bludging and then they'd bomb out in the HSC, thus it would affect other people's internal marks to an extent. It's common for cases where people do shit in easier exams coz of silly mistakes and do very well in harder exams because they're much better than the rest of the cohort (ie. maths).

 

[SpreadTheWord]

Please describe to me how the internal moderation system is a major flaw - if that's what you mean when you say 'final mark influenced by others'.

Because why should 50% of your mark be influenced by how others do. A lot of the schools, base their assessments on home assignments which then allows kids that will perform bad in tests, to get good results and thus the higher ranks. This will then screw those who are good at tests. Anyone can do a home assignment, and get 90+, but can everyone transcend that upon their tests. Also, i do not believe assignments at home prepare you for the whole objective of the HSC exam at the tail end of the year.

Do you understand where i am coming from though?

 

[cem]

Because why should 50% of your mark be influenced by how others do. A lot of the schools, base their assessments on home assignments which then allows kids that will perform bad in tests, to get good results and thus the higher ranks. This will then screw those who are good at tests. Anyone can do a home assignment, and get 90+, but can everyone transcend that upon their tests. Also, i do not believe assignments at home prepare you for the whole objective of the HSC exam at the tail end of the year.

Do you understand where i am coming from though?

The BOS wants to assess more than exam writing skills though. If that was all they wanted to assess then they could return to the days of 100% on the HSC exam itself - where students could bludge all year and cram at the last minute and do really well.

If schools set 'at home' assessments and don't do reasonable follow up to be convinced that the work is the student's own work then the school isn't doing its job properly.

As for it being easy to get 90+ in an at home assessment you obviously don't have me as a teacher - I rarely give 90% for any task.

 

[theone111]

Because why should 50% of your mark be influenced by how others do. A lot of the schools, base their assessments on home assignments which then allows kids that will perform bad in tests, to get good results and thus the higher ranks. This will then screw those who are good at tests. Anyone can do a home assignment, and get 90+, but can everyone transcend that upon their tests. Also, i do not believe assignments at home prepare you for the whole objective of the HSC exam at the tail end of the year.

Do you understand where i am coming from though?

definitely a flawed system

kid thats top rank in everything at my school basically took notes from past kids
and sent it in as his assessment

now if that system isnt flawed, the i idk what is

 

[theone111]

The BOS wants to assess more than exam writing skills though. If that was all they wanted to assess then they could return to the days of 100% on the HSC exam itself - where students could bludge all year and cram at the last minute and do really well.

If schools set 'at home' assessments and don't do reasonable follow up to be convinced that the work is the student's own work then the school isn't doing its job properly.

As for it being easy to get 90+ in an at home assessment you obviously don't have me as a teacher - I rarely give 90% for any task.

where do you teach?

 

[SpreadTheWord]

The BOS wants to assess more than exam writing skills though. If that was all they wanted to assess then they could return to the days of 100% on the HSC exam itself - where students could bludge all year and cram at the last minute and do really well.

If schools set 'at home' assessments and don't do reasonable follow up to be convinced that the work is the student's own work then the school isn't doing its job properly.

As for it being easy to get 90+ in an at home assessment you obviously don't have me as a teacher - I rarely give 90% for any task.

Yes that is true, and i see where your coming from. But the whole point of ranking people is for the exams, hence those who are higher ranked will usually attain better results. I just feel that it does some people injustice in that 50% of your mark, which ultimately comes from the exam is really reflective upon past home assignments. Also, within exams you have to perform under pressure, use critical thinking and problem solving, which deciphers different skills more so than having 2 weeks to leisurely complete something.

And by all means, im not saying i achieve 90 in every 'home' assessment (my school tends to mark harder in certain subjects, which is a good thing), i tend to flourish and mainly get these within exams. But it seems to be opposite for others, they flunx exams, and flourish in assignments, and the fact there being more 'home assignments' i don't think is fair, when we are getting prepared for exams. If it was a 'home assessment' in place, instead of the exam at the end of the year, ok fair enough, i withdraw my argument.

And look guys, this is the only thing im knocking - i agree the system is good, as i previously mentioned in my earlier post.

 

[cem]

Yes that is true, and i see where your coming from. But the whole point of ranking people is for the exams, hence those who are higher ranked will usually attain better results. I just feel that it does some people injustice in that 50% of your mark, which ultimately comes from the exam is really reflective upon past home assignments. Also, within exams you have to perform under pressure, use critical thinking and problem solving, which deciphers different skills more so than having 2 weeks to leisurely complete something.

And by all means, im not saying i achieve 90 in every 'home' assessment (my school tends to mark harder in certain subjects, which is a good thing), i tend to flourish and mainly get these within exams. But it seems to be opposite for others, they flunx exams, and flourish in assignments, and the fact there being more 'home assignments' i don't think is fair, when we are getting prepared for exams. If it was a 'home assessment' in place, instead of the exam at the end of the year, ok fair enough, i withdraw my argument.

And look guys, this is the only thing im knocking - i agree the system is good, as i previously mentioned in my earlier post.

You made your argument beautifully - kids who do well in exams will do well in exams but kids who don't do as wellin exams also get a chance to show what they can do and that is what the BOS wants - to allow all kids a chance to show their skills not just those who do well in exams.

The final HSC is 50% external exam, about 25% internally set exams and about 25% internally set at home assignments - so kids who do well in exams, under that sort of pressure have plenty of chances to shine but the kids who wilt under that pressure also have a chance to get some marks that show what they can do. That is a fairer system than the one that I did which was totally 100% on the final exam e.g. you could fail your trials big time - like 21% and still end up with a very high mark because you nailed the final exam (I did - ended up with scholarship to uni and everything but failed every trial exam, except the histories - but other kids who did really well in class work and worked hard all year didn't end up with anything like my marks because they didn't get any credit for their consistency or non-exam based skills).

 

[Aerath]

At my school, in the HSC year, there was no take-home assessables. Everything that was assessable was an exam of some sort. I know quite a lot of schools are similar. [I also know that quite a lot of other schools aren't].

 

[cem]

At my school, in the HSC year, there was no take-home assessables. Everything that was assessable was an exam of some sort. I know quite a lot of schools are similar. [I also know that quite a lot of other schools aren't].

The BOS actually has a limit on the percentage of 'exam or test type' assessment tasks.

What we do a lot is have students do the research at home and then bring the notes into class and write it up there, not knowing the actual question. That is ok but if all I did was have the students research it at home and then have to write the response from memory it has to be done within the 40% 'exam or test type' limit set by the BOS for the histories.

I do know that many schools ignore BOS rules unfortunately but mine doesn't because of the registration process having to be done every five years.

 

[Aerath]

Oooooh, fair enough. That's quite interesting to know. I think my school's rationale behind 100% exams was that they wanted to limit possibilities of plagiarism and tutors writing essays for students. The best way to eliminate this would be exams, as opposed to assignments, because it's a lot more difficult to cheat in terms of plagiarism and getting someone else to write your essay when you have to replicate it yourself in the exam - because there's every chance that writing style just doesn't mesh with the style of the writing someone else's.

But that's very interesting, that there's a limit. cem, just wondering, if there are rules, how come the Board doesn't hold schools to the same standard?

 

[tambam]

Oooooh, fair enough. That's quite interesting to know. I think my school's rationale behind 100% exams was that they wanted to limit possibilities of plagiarism and tutors writing essays for students. The best way to eliminate this would be exams, as opposed to assignments, because it's a lot more difficult to cheat in terms of plagiarism and getting someone else to write your essay when you have to replicate it yourself in the exam - because there's every chance that writing style just doesn't mesh with the style of the writing someone else's.

But that's very interesting, that there's a limit. cem, just wondering, if there are rules, how come the Board doesn't hold schools to the same standard?

Yeah, my school does the same thing, so in year 12 there are no 'take home and hand in' assignments, and research components were simply met by 'researching' syllabus dot points independently, then sitting an exam, and in many situations we are allowed to bring in 1 sheet of researched information.
So to an extent, different skills are tested (more than just memorizing content to regurgitate in an exam)

But in physics, the 'practical task' component was skirted and turned into a written assessment of interpreting graphs based on practicals we'd done throughout the year, which in my opinion is hardly adhering to the set guidelines

 

[MrBrightside]

VET exams are pure 100% weighting on the final HSC exam. So how well you do on the day is what you'll get on your HSC paper. But of course VET subjects get the added bonus of receiving a Cert II in their respective fields.

 

[Aerath]

But in physics, the 'practical task' component was skirted and turned into a written assessment of interpreting graphs based on practicals we'd done throughout the year, which in my opinion is hardly adhering to the set guidelines

My school had that as well. Only because a few years back, a number of students 'burnt' their prac papers in the bunsens.

 

[cem]

Oooooh, fair enough. That's quite interesting to know. I think my school's rationale behind 100% exams was that they wanted to limit possibilities of plagiarism and tutors writing essays for students. The best way to eliminate this would be exams, as opposed to assignments, because it's a lot more difficult to cheat in terms of plagiarism and getting someone else to write your essay when you have to replicate it yourself in the exam - because there's every chance that writing style just doesn't mesh with the style of the writing someone else's.

But that's very interesting, that there's a limit. cem, just wondering, if there are rules, how come the Board doesn't hold schools to the same standard?

Not all schools get checked to the same level - government schools just need to have their principal to sign off that they are following the various syllabi. Catholic schools are more likely to be checked by both the CEO and the BOS but smaller independent schools are thoroughly checked by the BOS every 5 years for all sorts of things and meeting the appropriate assessment instructions is one of them.