PLEASE READ

[sellingspeshbooks]

So I was reading the paper this morning and there was an article about the methods exam and how the Casio Classpad students were disadvantaged because their calculator screwed up. VCAA, with the already difficult paper plus the unsolvable questions brutally demolished my chances and dreams of getting into my dream course. I read the other thread and saw that VCAA is going to determine how much marks we're gonna get for question 3e, but what about those who didnt have calculator problems but simply didn't attempt it because they didn't know how to? It wouldn't be fair if those people got the extra marks as well. Whether you think the plan they have come up with is fair or not, VCAA has been very careless with the exam by not carefully  making sure that each question is actually ABLE TO BE SOLVED ON THE CALCULATOR. After all, exam 2 is a bloody calculator based exam! And talk about the chemistry exam; how could they have forgotten the negative signs on the electrons?! It just shows how careless they are. So, I'd like to encourage all of you to send VCAA an email. Just express how much you were affected by this exam, emotionally and mentally. As for myself, I was deeply traumatized by this exam. I walked into the exam room confident, I had worked off my ass for the year and gotten good SAC marks and everything. I walked out feeling miserable. Also point out that the stupid pyramid question wasted a whole lot of valuable time. I had to reset my cas a few times, before I just gave up cos it wouldn't bloody work. SEND THEM AN EMAIL GUYS. IT'S NEVER TOO LATE. Even if it is too late, VCAA needs to get a hold of itself and start writing proper exam papers. Our future depends on these exams. SO PLEASE, IF EVERYONE JUST SENDS THEM AN EMAIL.... WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO MAKE A CHANGE.

Here is the email address:
[email protected]

[Andiio]

mmm, I really hope the methods exam next year isn't screwed up like this years :| I use the classpad.. haha

[MrT011]

mmm, I really hope the methods exam next year isn't screwed up like this years :| I use the classpad.. haha

+1

its fucking ridiculous, pretty scared the idiots will do it again lmao

[Romperait]

mmm, I really hope the methods exam next year isn't screwed up like this years :| I use the classpad.. haha

+1

its fucking ridiculous, pretty scared the idiots will do it again lmao

I didn't regret doing methods 3/4 in year 11 once throughout the entirety of the course. When I learnt about how VCAA screwed up the exam, I couldn't help but wonder if doing it next year would have brought better luck.

[happycat]

mmm, I really hope the methods exam next year isn't screwed up like this years :| I use the classpad.. haha

I hope so too because I'll be doing it next year.

[Souljette_93]

mmm, I really hope the methods exam next year isn't screwed up like this years :| I use the classpad.. haha

Trust me, in won't. Not in a row, in fact, I'm predicting that next year it would be ridiculously easy..

[happycat]

mmm, I really hope the methods exam next year isn't screwed up like this years :| I use the classpad.. haha

Trust me, in won't. Not in a row, in fact, I'm predicting that next year it would be ridiculously easy..

Well that might be good for me although the cutoff for the grades will be high

[Souljette_93]

mmm, I really hope the methods exam next year isn't screwed up like this years :| I use the classpad.. haha

Trust me, in won't. Not in a row, in fact, I'm predicting that next year it would be ridiculously easy..

Well that might be good for me although the cutoff for the grades will be high

Yeah, I guess that's the downside, but if you practise enough ( eliminating mistakes), then you'll be fine.

[luken93]

I'd rather a hard exam, it makes the silly mistakes somewhat less important!

[taiga]

I understand where you're coming from, but if you got it wrong because your calculator let you down, odds are you will get a better mark than you would have with your calculator working.

Let's not get too pedantic about the - signs either.

They're doing their best to fix it, and I think that if you are looking to blame this mistake as deciding whether you are getting into your dream course or not, I think you are simply finding excuses.

[Pixon]

I think it's wrong to think of Exam 2 as a "calculator based exam". It's simply a maths exam in which you are allowed to use calculators. A major issue I have with Methods CAS is that it allows students to blindly use the calculator as if it is the only way to do a question. It strips away a great portion of the mathematics by letting a calculator do it. Instead of just ignoring the question because your calculator couldn't do it, you should have tried to gain half the marks for that question by finding the derivative by hand and having it equal to 0. At least then you've demonstrated that you understand what the question is asking.

"what about those who didnt have calculator problems but simply didn't attempt it because they didn't know how to?"

To quote VCAA: "The VCAA calculated an estimated score for question 3(e) for all students based on their individual performance on the rest of the examination."

The key word here is individual. If a student doesn't know how to find a maximum then it's likely to have shown in the rest of their paper.

@Taiga ^^^
Very well said. I would +karma you but I'm clearly too noob.
There's no point in finding excuses especially as VCAA has come up with a rather fair solution. I believe that I got that question correct (I used a TI) and I can live with this remedy and in fact, I applaud VCAA for handling it in such a manner.

[jane1234]

I'd rather a hard exam, it makes the silly mistakes somewhat less important!

+1
*just quietly* I'm actually happy that we had these exams instead of '06 or '09

[Pixon]

I'd rather a hard exam, it makes the silly mistakes somewhat less important!

+1
*just quietly* I'm actually happy that we had these exams instead of '06 or '09

+1
Many are...

[luffy]

I'd rather a hard exam, it makes the silly mistakes somewhat less important!

+1
*just quietly* I'm actually happy that we had these exams instead of '06 or '09

I was happy with the difficulty of exam 2. In fact, I loved the fact that it was hard... Couldn't be happier.

However, exam 1 is a different matter. I'm sure everyone knows which question I'm talking about.....

[8039]

I think it's wrong to think of Exam 2 as a "calculator based exam".

Pretty sure it's entirely a calculator based exam. Especially this year.