National Education > General National Education Discussion

Questions about competition, grades, and study

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WhoTookMyUsername:
1. no definitely, when i was at previous schools was aiming for 99 ATAR, now aiming for considerably higher
2. No way, i would probably die from playing dota for too long
3. Same as 2.

Personally i think the vast majority of people if they were being truthful with themselves would say no to each point,
If you're guaranteed a 99.95 ATAR, and 100 UMAT no matter how much study you do, i can't see how anyone would study the same amount.
Some people may still study quite hard for enjoyment and interest, but i think even these people wouldn't do as much study as they would otherwise (similar for 2 and 3)

Jenny_2108:

--- Quote from: Eriny on July 03, 2012, 06:55:32 pm ---I'm really curious about what others think on the following questions (I've just been randomly thinking about this subject recently)

1. Would you study as hard as you do now if you weren't in direct competition with other students? Or, if you aren't in direct competition with other students (i.e. you aren't graded to a curve) would being in competition make a difference?

2. Would you study as hard if you weren't graded? i.e. just for personal satisfaction. What if you got to pick the curriculum and assessment schemes based on your interests?

3. Would you study as hard if you weren't graded but, as a small group (say, less than 5 of you) you all committed to finishing a project you were all really interested in and even though there weren't any contracts or anything, you knew that other members of the group were relying on you to do your part?

I think these are hard question, For me personally, I'd work just as hard if I weren't in direct competition with other students, but I probably do need to be graded to some extent (maybe not a number necessarily, but I'd need some level of feedback). With the group thing - I'm not sure, I think that there are incentives to do as little as possible without anyone noticing (like at work, pretty much), but then if I was genuinely interested in the project, maybe I'd want to do as much as possible. I've been in those kinds of situations before related to writing or something similarly creative and it's definitely been important for me to get my voice/opinions in.

Feel free to open up the discussion even further if you want, those questions are just meant as a starting point.

--- End quote ---

1. Yep. I just study hard as I love the subjects I chose and enjoy studying. I dont wanna join in competition or compete with others too much because they are my friends, my classmates and I feel bad and guilty when they are sad as well especially they are my best friends. I think studying helps me to reach my destination, not to knock others down

2. Sometimes, I feel happy and have lots of fun when studying or discussing problems with my peers so grades are not my main purpose of going to school. They only partly evaluate our ability, not all so a person doesnt study well or doesnt get high score at school , it doesn mean he/she isnt as smart or excellent as others.

3. If its a project I'm interested in, I will try my best and put efforts because I LIKE it :P

Eriny:
I think the mix of responses is really interesting. TT talked about a concern I've had that you kind of want to go beyond the assessable content of a course into areas that interest you but because it would take up so much time and energy, you kind of just deal with what you need to. It's interesting that a lot of students do have the attitude that they're in school/uni to get high marks (or do the bare minimum to pass) rather than to learn. But I have that attitude a bit as well - I get anxious about what's on the exam, and I don't want to have to 'needlessly learn' things that won't be assessed. I think that's horrible, but, well, there it is.

It's interesting also the different ways competition can help/hinder us, I think VegemitePi's point about how competing with others drags you up, because you want to stay with them. That's a good thing. But then, I think that helping each other out, learning in a group, not being so individualised or pitted against each other all the time would be helpful too (Jenny's answers in that regard are admirable).

TrueTears:

--- Quote from: Eriny on July 04, 2012, 08:36:10 pm ---I think the mix of responses is really interesting. TT talked about a concern I've had that you kind of want to go beyond the assessable content of a course into areas that interest you but because it would take up so much time and energy, you kind of just deal with what you need to. It's interesting that a lot of students do have the attitude that they're in school/uni to get high marks (or do the bare minimum to pass) rather than to learn. But I have that attitude a bit as well - I get anxious about what's on the exam, and I don't want to have to 'needlessly learn' things that won't be assessed. I think that's horrible, but, well, there it is.

--- End quote ---
Yup you hit the nail on the head, I'd think quite alot of top students also have this "problem", you get so focused on trying to predict and study for things that might be on exams rather than actually learn things.

Stick:

--- Quote from: Eriny on July 03, 2012, 06:55:32 pm ---I'm really curious about what others think on the following questions (I've just been randomly thinking about this subject recently)

1. Would you study as hard as you do now if you weren't in direct competition with other students? Or, if you aren't in direct competition with other students (i.e. you aren't graded to a curve) would being in competition make a difference?
--- End quote ---

I'm really happy with how I'm travelling in VCE so far - perhaps I would relax a little bit more if I was being marked on just my own work, rather than being compared to everyone else in the state, because I'd feel more in control. Competition can be a motivator at times, but for me it's seldom a positive influence.


--- Quote ---2. Would you study as hard if you weren't graded? i.e. just for personal satisfaction. What if you got to pick the curriculum and assessment schemes based on your interests?
--- End quote ---

I probably wouldn't study as hard if I wasn't graded on my work. I've always been interested in my studies but I've taken a massive step up from my attitude in Year 10 to the attitude I intend to maintain over the next couple of years, because I'm going to need a pretty high ATAR to pursue what I want to do in tertiary studies. I think the current curriculum and assessment scheme is actually alright but one thing I would change is how SACs work. Instead of allowing schools to create their own SACs and then having them readjusted to exam scores, I'd have them written by VCAA and have all students sit them on the same day (like a mini exam). Again, this would make me personally feel more in control, rather than having my marks affected by exams and the results of the rest of the cohort. Nervous people, such as myself, tend to perform worse in exams compared to SACs and under the current system my results will suffer if I don't keep my cool.


--- Quote ---3. Would you study as hard if you weren't graded but, as a small group (say, less than 5 of you) you all committed to finishing a project you were all really interested in and even though there weren't any contracts or anything, you knew that other members of the group were relying on you to do your part?

--- End quote ---

In that ideal situation, yes. However, my results doing group work thus far in my schooling have been less than positive. I often get paired up with people who just aren't interested in working and I either receive a poor mark or end up taking responsibility for an unreasonable amount of the task. Again, this is a matter of me feeling in control. I like to be responsible for my own work.

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