harder assessment tasks in GO8 unis?

[bully3000]

hi there,

is it true that in higher ranked unis (and just generally in courses with tougher entry requirements) typically give harder assessments to their studnets than the lower ranked unis?

Is there any sort of correlation?

I have heard people say that in GO8 unis that the assessement tasks are often substantially harder than those of lower ranking unis in their courses.

Is there any truth behind this?

Generally speaking, is it easier to get HD in a lower ranking uni with lower entry requirements than a GO8 uni for example?

[sluu001]

No.

I attended both RMIT and Melbourne for my B.Comm (currently in my final year at Melbourne). The difficulty of tasks are very similar across both Universities; and achieving a HD in either Universities requires the same amount of effort. The only difference between the two Universities is that Melbourne promotes a much more self learning environment where students are not required to do much for their base assessment tasks (i.e. tutorial homework), but are expected to do additional research on topics the lecturers "recommend" that students have a look at. RMIT on the other hand, will give a lot more mandatory work that covers most of the topics that will be covered in the subject.

In terms of difficulty, undergraduate degrees are very similar across the Commerce discipline (cannot speak for the other courses).

[Muuru]

Depends on the course, really.

For graduate-entry teaching courses, there is a considerable difference in the rigour and volume of assessment tasks between universities. I was working alongside a student from Victoria University in one of my placement schools for a considerable period of time and we were discussing the differences in the types of assessment tasks that we were each required to complete. We both agreed that the assessment tasks at Victoria University were not only considerably easier but there were also far less of them to complete.

I'll give you an example. A typical subject on Primary Mathematics Education at The University of Melbourne would require you to diagnose misconceptions and areas of difficulty in a child's existing schemas, which typically involves constructing an assessment task designed to uncover these particular conceptual difficulties in your target student(s). The assessment tasks at Victoria University, on the other hand, tend to assess student teachers on their actual mathematical content knowledge and how they would teach X curriculum area in the most effective way in the classroom (in a general sense). As you can probably tell, the task at The University of Melbourne is more conceptually challenging and rigorous.

That is not to say that this can be generalised across all courses, though. For most 'generalist' undergraduate degrees, there does not appear to be a huge difference in terms of assessment rigour and workload.

[bully3000]

No.

I attended both RMIT and Melbourne for my B.Comm (currently in my final year at Melbourne). The difficulty of tasks are very similar across both Universities; and achieving a HD in either Universities requires the same amount of effort. The only difference between the two Universities is that Melbourne promotes a much more self learning environment where students are not required to do much for their base assessment tasks (i.e. tutorial homework), but are expected to do additional research on topics the lecturers "recommend" that students have a look at. RMIT on the other hand, will give a lot more mandatory work that covers most of the topics that will be covered in the subject.

In terms of difficulty, undergraduate degrees are very similar across the Commerce discipline (cannot speak for the other courses).

Why did you choose to transfer from RMIT to Melbourne?
Also, what marks did you get in RMIT for the transfer to take place?

In hindsight, in a commerce degree there aren't any significant advantages of attending a GO8 uni?
Am I right?

[thushan]

From what I've read here, there is a very minimal advantage. You'd only see it where you have two graduates of equal grades and work experience.

[sluu001]

I had been aiming for an economics related role within the public or private sector. The reason for transfer is simply because to obtain such a role, I would need to complete an honours year.

While I contend that undergraduate studies between Universities are roughly equivalent; in Honours and Post-Grad studies in a theoretical Commerce field such as Economics - Melbourne has a distinct advantage over most other Universities in Australia. (Better funding = better academics = better chance of producing a killer thesis). Unfortunately, this goal of mine may be shot once I get my Econometrics marks back (hopefully soon). In such cases, Melbourne also allowed me to complete an Economics/Accounting double major; which was not available at RMIT. (Hence another (albeit lesser) reason on why I transferred Universities).

In regards to a transfer, any average north of 75 should give you a decent chance of a transfer. My average was around 85ish when I applied after 1st year - but I've met quite a lot of people who've transferred around the 76-77 mark.

[EvangelionZeta]

I wouldn't say it depends on ranking so much as just faculty-by-faculty.

Monash is ranked extremely highly in philosophy for instance, but I've always found the coursework to be significantly more challenging/marked more harshly at the ANU.  My friend who is doing his PhD at the ANU in philosophy but who did undergrad at Macquarie also commented that the undergrad coursework looks more intensive. 

Another example is in Asia-Pacific Studies - at the ANU, in an undergraduate Chinese History course (2nd year), I had two 1000 word essays, a 500 word essay plan, a 3000 word essay, four detailed factual tests and three ten minute oral presentations for the assessment.  This is fairly standard fare for ANU Asia-Pacific Studies subjects, but also, the Asia-Pacific faculty in particular is known for being quite intensive like this, in contrast to a lot of the other Arts faculties which seem to be pretty much the same intensity as other Australian unis generally.