ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => Victorian Education Discussion => Topic started by: jenerator on December 12, 2011, 02:26:39 pm
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The VCAA has decided that mid-year examinations in VCE Accounting, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physics and Psychology will be held for the last time in 2012.
From 2013 mid-year VCE examinations will no longer be offered.
A decision on the timing of the 2013 General Achievement Test (GAT) is yet to be determined. The VCAA will consult schools and other key stakeholders early in 2012 before making a decision.
Many schools have been asking for this change for some time. Freeing up this time will provide more flexibility for schools and permit greater continuity of study for all VCE students. The examinations for all VCE students will be aligned.
Principals, subject associations and a range of study specialists including teachers and examiners were consulted prior to the decision.
A number of minor amendments to the study designs for Accounting, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physics and Psychology will be made to accommodate the consequent changes to the assessment structures of these studies.
The amendments are confined to Units 3 and 4 in each of the studies and will be implemented from the 2013 school year.
The table below summarises changes to the assessment structures for each study, showing the relative weightings of School-assessed Coursework and the length of the single end-of-year examination.
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Well, I'm going to be feeling sorry for the 2013 science and commerce students. I guess they would have the end of years exam for over 2 hours.
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holy shit. gg Psych students. enjoy memorising 3/4 combined.
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Hmm, 3 hour science exams perhaps. Just like in the HSC...
(they could make it 2 hours, but its kinda hard to cram all the content into 2 hours)
EDIT: they give the actual length of the exams, which may or may not be 3 hours. could someone link me to the website?
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Hmm, 3 hour science exams. Just like in the HSC...
(they could make it 2 hours, but its kinda hard to cram all the content into 2 hours)
EDIT: they give the actual times. could someone link me to the website?
Woah 3 hours!, we made a escape good 2012'ers lol.
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its actually 2-2.5 hrs
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Ahh okay that makes sense. 2.5 hours. That's soo odd! I reckon it should be 3 hours...can cover the course adequately.
LOL I can imagine if this were 2011:
Chemistry 2011 EndofYear exam.
40 Multiple Choice Qns
104 Marks worth of Short answer across 14-16 qns.
Total 144 marks.
Hmm...
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:(...no midyears...no uni extension increments...2013 is a dud year.
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If anything... they should've made more midyears...
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one advantage though, reduced SAC's
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Full details from VCAA can be found here
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
>:(
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Does that mean there will be new editions of textbooks for 2013 for an amended study design?
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^ there'll have to be IMO, the SD has to change.
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^ there'll have to be IMO, the SD has to change.
Yeah they are, my chem teacher went to a meeting a couple of weeks back to discuss the changes, apparently it's heading towards HSC-like, as thushan said..
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^ there'll have to be IMO, the SD has to change.
Yeah they are, my chem teacher went to a meeting a couple of weeks back to discuss the changes, apparently it's heading towards HSC-like, as thushan said..
Hopefully only small changes otherwise as tutors we'll have to go back and learn a couple of new things.
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re:b^3 ; I just lost my business. My self created Psych exam is useless after 2012 -.-
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Ahahah make a new one, or amend your old one! :D
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Not possible haha. I have no idea how to make a 2.5 hour exam + content will be different.
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could someone explain why it was changed, whats wrong with the current system?
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If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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Not sure what my thoughts are on this. I never did any subjects requiring mid-years, but it seems to be a good idea to ensure that not everything rests on the one major piece of assessment...
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Everything is done to save money. This will save them shitloads. Not having to prepare, administer and mark mid year exams will be a lot more financially viable. And AFAIK, the GAT is (or at least was) outsourced to ACER, so this leaves them having to only run the end of year exams.
From an educational perspective, I think it sucks. Having to memorise a years worth of work will be tough.
That having been said, I am all for long (3 hour) exams, especially in the sciences. 3 hour exams are pretty much standard in first year uni science subjects. Moreover, whilst the may seem harder at the surface, I would argue that they are easier. 3 hours is a long time so you can manage your time better. In a short exam, if you have a bad 10 or 15 mins, it is very difficult to recover from it. 3 hours on the other hand gives you more flexibility for the occasional stuff up, which takes the pressure off a little.
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I actually think this is better, mid-year exams were always a bother and they came around too quickly, and by the end of the year, you regret doing badly on your midyears, I think the few months from mid-years to end-of-years gave me so much more maturity!
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Actually they are 2.5 hours - I agree with stonecold, they should be 3 hours.
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That having been said, I am all for long (3 hour) exams, especially in the sciences. 3 hour exams are pretty much standard in first year uni science subjects. Moreover, whilst the may seem harder at the surface, I would argue that they are easier. 3 hours is a long time so you can manage your time better. In a short exam, if you have a bad 10 or 15 mins, it is very difficult to recover from it. 3 hours on the other hand gives you more flexibility for the occasional stuff up, which takes the pressure off a little.
I agree, longer exams would mean generally more marks, so the effect of a stupid mistake or brain fade is much less. Although, the longer exam could cause you to be more tired, and increase mistakes.
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I am totally against the three hour exam, the GAT and the English exam are enough torture, I cannot describe how good 1 hour/1.5 hour exams are!!
(Especially given the fact that we still have 15min reading time)
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Nah 3 hour english exam is only torture coz you're constantly writing for 3 hours.
With the science exams (esp chem and physics) you wont be doing anywhere near as much writing!
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Nar the timing isn't an issue, in fact better as Stonecold pointed out. The issue is the content of each subject and how much the SD will change.
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Do you think that they will split subjects like Chemistry into 2 exams - multiple choice and short-answer - similar to further? (I think further's like this, I didn't actually study it)
edit: looked at link posted, I guess not
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Nah 3 hour english exam is only torture coz you're constantly writing for 3 hours.
With the science exams (esp chem and physics) you wont be doing anywhere near as much writing!
That's true, I wouldn't mind too much if they compressed the Maths exams into one exam, in fact when doing practice exams, I'd do them in 3 hour blocks and I survived (A)
You have a good point! :P
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wow it seems as though 2012 is the last year for everything first the new VB in 2013 and now this! ...oh yer and not to mention the end of the world:P massive coincidence though...
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How about citing a source, OP?
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/correspondence/bulletins/2011/December/vce_general.html
God.
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I think that stonecold is definitely right re. doing this for the money.
My neighbour works for a government department and told us that all government departments (including VCAA) have been ordered to slash their spending by 8% this year and even further again next year. Which sucks for the 2013 students. Which isn't me. So I'm happy :D
(wait does that mean I probably won't be able to sell my bio/chem books second hand if there's a new study design?)
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Well I don't do any science so I have no midyear exams next year (except the GAT).
But I actually prefer it this way anyway. A lot of people weren't ready for the midyear exams and no matter how well they did at the end of the year, they couldn't get an awesome study score because they messed up midyear.
I have a friend who is very smart, but only got a C+ midyear in psychology. He is probably going to get an A+ at the end of the year exam (and he is rank 1 in SAC's), but due to his midyear exam, he will probably only get a 35 study score when he had the potential to get about 40-45.
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so? ^ by that logic you can say a person will screw up the only exam (worth 66%) and there will be no second chance.
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Yeah but the end of year exam is the last thing you do for that subject, so you don't need to worry after that.
If you screw up the midyear exam, you often lose motivation and just want to give up halfway through the year.
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Re: article, luckily I finished VCE before 2012. I'd hate to have to remember the whole chem course for an exam (ouch!), and have to cram two semesters of physics into 1.5hrs in the library prior to the exam. Feel sorry for the 2013+ guys :(
I love how they include this:
A decision on the timing of the 2013 General Achievement Test (GAT) is yet to be determined. The VCAA will consult schools and other key stakeholders early in 2012 before making a decision.
Like anyone cares...
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Yeah but the end of year exam is the last thing you do for that subject, so you don't need to worry after that.
If you screw up the midyear exam, you often lose motivation and just want to give up halfway through the year.
Yeah so?^ With your reasoning.. .the person would get an even LOWER score if he screwed up the 66% exam.
Where as with the current design, he only screwed up 33%..
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^ I kinda already said that :p
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Yeah but the end of year exam is the last thing you do for that subject, so you don't need to worry after that.
If you screw up the midyear exam, you often lose motivation and just want to give up halfway through the year.
Yeah so?^ With your reasoning.. .the person would get an even LOWER score if he screwed up the 66% exam.
Where as with the current design, he only screwed up 33%..
No because at the end of the year, everyone gets ready for exams.
In the middle of the year, people are often unprepared and are much more likely to stuff up.
In the end of the year, you should be fully prepared for exams and they won't just come at you all of a sudden like they do in the middle of the year.
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Yeah but the end of year exam is the last thing you do for that subject, so you don't need to worry after that.
If you screw up the midyear exam, you often lose motivation and just want to give up halfway through the year.
Yeah so?^ With your reasoning.. .the person would get an even LOWER score if he screwed up the 66% exam.
Where as with the current design, he only screwed up 33%..
No because at the end of the year, everyone gets ready for exams.
In the middle of the year, people are often unprepared and are much more likely to stuff up.
In the end of the year, you should be fully prepared for exams and they won't just come at you all of a sudden like they do in the middle of the year.
Still with mid-year exams you can kinda get yourself ready to sit end of year exams. On the old system those that do mid-year exams have sat proper exams before (i.e. the mid year) and so will be more ready for the atmosphere of exams. On the new system everyone will show up to the english exam as their first exam. Some people freak out for their first exam, if it was a mid year exam they won't lose as much as say english. Having done exams under the conditions before the main bunch is an advantage, for me my trial run was doing further in yr 11 and it help me prepared better for the other exams. Others use the mid-year exams partly as their trial run (they still count though).
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Mid years have 8 week summer holidays as well to prepare. If you're seriously under prepared for mid years you haven't organised your time properly.
Tbh, I'm more worried about time for Chem u4 end-of-year.
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If you're not prepared at midyear, then I'm sorry to sound rude, but why should you deserve a good score when others have prepared? I was well prepared for midyear because I worked hard, if you don't think you've had enough time then I'm sorry, but everyone's in the same boat with the same amount of time, no excuses...
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In the end of the year, you should be fully prepared for exams and they won't just come at you all of a sudden like they do in the middle of the year.
Lmfao. You might be feeling that with one Y11 subject. I dominated both ITs all year and the fact that everything came down to ONE SINGLE DAY it kind of got to me. I still think I'll score > 40 in both but still it is scary knowing that you could (and probably will) be scared shitless that day.
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Oh wow just realised, all Med hopefuls will have a lot more time to prepare for UMAT...
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I don't like the sound of this at all =\
What does the fourth column of the table mean?
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What does the fourth column of the table mean?
Less SACs I'm guessing.
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Oh wow just realised, all Med hopefuls will have a lot more time to prepare for UMAT...
Holy f%#$, that's gonna be crazy the amount of spare time you'll all have!
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Hmm... have mixed feelings about this. I know it'll be harder memorizing the course, but I know that for mid-years I was still doing SACs during the exam period, my folio was due and I was begninning to remember I had the UMAT coming up as well. You don't have those distractions at the end-of-year exams, so people might actually perform better. That said, I was well and truly over studying by the time end-of-years came around, so I probably would have done better on my mid-years.
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gg Psychology (http://images.wikia.com/evchk/images/e/ed/369.gif) (http://images.wikia.com/evchk/images/e/ed/369.gif) (http://images.wikia.com/evchk/images/e/ed/369.gif)
I am glad that I finished VCE 2011 (http://images.wikia.com/evchk/images/f/fa/Agree1.gif) (http://images.wikia.com/evchk/images/f/fa/Agree1.gif)
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Ok are they actually going to increase the time period for exams? I mean testing 3+4 Science subjects will be horrific, for subjects such as Psych. I mean its troublesome enough already fitting Unit 3 or 4 into one exam. >.>
I think this is going to benefit a large number of kids, but at the same time screw a whole load of them over.
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How can you fit 4 areas of study and 2 detailed studies on a single 2 page summary sheet ?
If I made the font any smaller I would need a magnifying glass to read it :)
.
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this is horrendous, every subject should have a mid-year in my opinion.
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How about citing a source, OP?
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/correspondence/bulletins/2011/December/vce_general.html
God.
Your DP turns me on.
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I liked my Mid year exams, I thought that they provided a break from the usual school but I was organised and did plenty of practise exams before sitting them. I'm not sure exactly how I feel but I certainly would not like to be in the 2013+ batch of students.
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I think I'm going to drop out, score some testosterone pills, grow a beard and join the circus.
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wow this sucks big time
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Ohh, so will they change a new study design for 2013(accounting) as the new study design is from 2012-2016??
Lol, that's bad to hear..It means I have to squezze in all year stuff for a 2+hour exam and it will be even worst as it depends
on your exams, means if lost 1-2 marks, they will be a major difference. + the stuff I sutdied probably wouln't in the exam. :(
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Personally, I think this is a change for the better - it sets students up for uni workload, and just raises the benchmark for the more competitive students. It's also true that SACs tend to clash with mid-years, especially with SACs for Maths subjects and midyears for Science. However, the 66% weightage may be a tad too heavy...
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Personally I'd believe the subjects with newer study designs won't be altered so much, but ones with older ones will.
A lot of changes would need to be made to get this to work though. I wonder where they will swap the GAT to.
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So we can't work through those older prac exams?
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So we can't work through those older prac exams?
Yeah you can. You'll just have to do them either untimed or to the time set at the front. This will keep you working at the right pace, even though the duration of past exams is different.
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This is going to be horrible for biology 2013 :(
Damn you VCAA.
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psychology just had a new study design this year. With a 2-2.5 hour exam it's impossible to examine all parts of the course and make it possible to complete it in that time frame. If nothing is changed for psych students of '13 then they'll be in for a rough time
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If they are really going to implement this, I think they should adjust the weighting of the end of year exams by adding more SACs...66% is just too much in my opinion. Imagine the pressure this would add to an already stressful period that year 12 is.
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i definitely agree. any subject with only 1 exam should have 50% of study score allocated to sac marks and the other 50% for exam.
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This is a disaster really. Fine, if it was an end of year exam worth 50% like a usual subject, it would be more of a good thing. But 66%?! Really?! That is a terrible weighting because it means that if someone underperforms then their sacs throughout the entire year have less chance to save their ass. Honestly sacs did save my ass this year and it's sad because I know for one I naturally underperform in the exam room due to stress. I can't imagine doing a years worth of sacs and it only counting for 33%.
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that's what currently occurs for all subjects with a midyears though. 34% for a years worth of SACs
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Exams in other education systems have worked flawlessy . From my experience doing first year I.B biology. It is not that difficult to cover a whole year's work of content into one . It's not going to be a diaster. It will also give students a first hand experience of what university timed exams are like. (Even tho they are longer)They get 1 month to cover content in which we take 11-12 months to cover.