Options Dilemma (1 Viewer)

[annabackwards]

I have this problem at school.

Before this year it was pretty clear and decided that we would be doing Quanta to Quarks as our elective. However, we got a new teacher and she hasn't done chemistry or the topic Quanta to Quarks in 20 years...

Her love is with Astrophysics and so now we're trying to decide whether to do Quanta or Astrophysics. If she taught Quanta she'd be rusty etc while if she taught astrophysics (her passion) she'd probably be excellent.

I've also been told that there's less dot points and hence content in Astrophysics so it would be easy to "ace". Others tell me astrophysics scales badly because it is "easier" than Quanta and point out that easier subjects scale badly...

So here are my questions:

1. Is there such a thing of "scaling" or mediating marks etc between the different options in a subject?
2. Should i choose Quanta or Astrophysics?

 

[cutemouse]

Well, you'd want to do the one that most people do... Otherwise you may disadvantaged.

I dunno how many people do Astrophysics compared to Quantum to Quarks... I'd probably choose Astrophysics though, given your circumstance.

 

[wixxy2348]

Do Astrophysics. At least you'll have your teacher to help u with it!

 

[icecoffee]

I did Astrophysics and i thought it was pretty interesting. I didn't realise that there was scaling involved in the options though...

 

[annabackwards]

I did Astrophysics and i thought it was pretty interesting. I didn't realise that there was scaling involved in the options though...

Ah i see, yeah i heard it was interesting but that you may be disadvantaged because of "scaling" as a result of most school doing quanta because it's seen to be the "hardest" option...

 

[shady145]

i dont think there is a scaling involved in the electives, but i heard something like its easier to beat people in a selection where there are more people and for some reason puts your mark up,
just reading over that it doesnt sound right so i dunno...

 

[darkchild69]

I have this problem at school.

Before this year it was pretty clear and decided that we would be doing Quanta to Quarks as our elective. However, we got a new teacher and she hasn't done chemistry or the topic Quanta to Quarks in 20 years...

Her love is with Astrophysics and so now we're trying to decide whether to do Quanta or Astrophysics. If she taught Quanta she'd be rusty etc while if she taught astrophysics (her passion) she'd probably be excellent.

I've also been told that there's less dot points and hence content in Astrophysics so it would be easy to "ace". Others tell me astrophysics scales badly because it is "easier" than Quanta and point out that easier subjects scale badly...

So here are my questions:

1. Is there such a thing of "scaling" or mediating marks etc between the different options in a subject?
2. Should i choose Quanta or Astrophysics?

Not sure about the truth behind "scaling" of different electives, i imagine it would be somehow, just not sure how.

I know last year Baulkham Hills High did Astrophysics, and they had the person which came 1st overall in Physics in NSW

 

[annabackwards]

WOW that's awesome news ^^

I think it's best to stick with what the teacher knows or i'll be screwed.

Thanks everyone, for all the advice!

 

[Kirsty Xx]

The same thing happened in my HSC Biology class. The teacher had been teaching the elective of Communication for many years (and so also had all the books/resources on it) and had "great results" with other students in previous with it. Yes, he was well qualified in teaching other electives but was more confident in Communication.

So ... we did Communication in hope that the teacher would have made the right decision regarding his class. It all went well.


Well, yes you're probably much better off having a teacher that is confident in teaching a HSC elective in Chemistry or Physics (you put this in a Physics forum but mentioned Chemistry) over a topic she's probably barely competent in.

Good luck.

 

[Trebla]

As far as I'm aware, there is no such thing as scaling between options. If you look at the HSC questions closely, you'll notice they try to ask "similar" things within a given year in terms of difficulty and level of sophistication. For example, a big 7 mark question could be about "impacts of technology" across all options. It's just that whatever this "technology" may be is different within each option, but the type of answer required is more or less the same across all options. This is how they attempt to "equalise" all option topics.

 

[annabackwards]

Thanks for all the help Kirsty Xx and Trebla

All I can do now is hope i'm alright ^^

@Trebla - I can see your point. I guess that's what they do in english and modern history.

 

[Lightlessice16]

I was really glad that i did astro instead of quanta to quarks
most of the stuff is really easy, also its similar to prelim cosmic engine.

 

[alcalder]

Take it from someone who has taught and learnt Physics...

Go with the teacher's strength. They know what is important to know and what isn't. They can skim you through the waffle and extend the interesting and important areas.

AND, quite frankly, Astrophysics is so much more interesting. Quanta to Quarks gets quite confusing and waffly at the end when you start talking about quarks.

 

[darkchild69]

AND, quite frankly, Astrophysics is so much more interesting. Quanta to Quarks gets quite confusing and waffly at the end when you start talking about quarks.

BAH!

Not to a quantum physicist

Although, I have looked through the syllabus and some resources on it and it does indeed look interesting and perhaps i will teach it one day. I just find the whole idea of quarks, leptons, nuclear physics etc... so interesting! My students cant wait til that topic, cuz i have a habit of talking about random quantum shite in class

But yes, definately go with the teachers strengths! There is just so many different disciplines in each branch of science! Like, I dont think i could teach the geophysics option as well as Q2Q, even if i wanted to, cuz it is not my area of expertise. I'm even having some trouble with getting my head around some Motors & Generators stuff, it's been so long since i have done it!

 

[Forbidden.]

When the teacher decided to teach us Astrophysics as an option, I facepalmed.

But either way the Board Of Studies cracked down on pracs in all the Biology, Chemistry and Physics electives for the 2007 exam, did they do that again for 2008?

 

[velzee]

This exact situation happened to me last year except my teacher was well experienced in quanta to quarks(4 years experience) but the class wanted to undertake Astrophysics. We had a class vote and the guys thought that doing astrophysics would be "easier". Well you can guess who won the vote, there being only 2 girls in the class.

So we had an teacher that had never taught astophsics attempting to explain concepts he had only learnt a few nights before. Dont get me wrong he was able to cover all the topics easily but as said before he wasnt able to elaborate further as his passion lay with qtq. I personally had no problem with this. I am self motivated and did extra research to affirm and understand some concepts I was unsure about. Compared to core units studed there was a slight increase to workload but it was well worth it.

In the trial I scored full marks for this section and the others went allright themselves. I believe the topic supported my good marks in the HSC exam. So personally I would take Astrophysics as your teacher has a passion for it, so youre going to find it a lot easier. However if you would like to challenge yourself a little go for quanta to quarks! If i had the choice again I would deffineltey enjoy it.

It all depends on your work ethic. Hope you choose the right topic.

 

[annabackwards]

Ah i see.

I guess i better stick with the teacher's strength then. I have a good work ethic but there's no point going and doing extra research when my teacher could just tell me what to do XD

@ Forbidden. - I have no idea about the board question