BOS still being whorish, I see (1 Viewer)

[hyaku666]

Gotta say, you guys have done a very tidy job here... class of 02 is sooo lucky. 'Bored of studies', ha.... very clever.

Anyway I happened to read a BOS newsletter and doing so always makes me want to throttle something, so I thought I'd complain to the only place likely to contain sympathetic ears.

http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/bulletins/pdf_doc/bbv11_3.pdf

HSC Class of 2002 aims high
-------------------------------------
>>HSC course entry figures this year for the second
New HSC class indicate substantial growth in the
uptake of high-level courses.
The Class of 2002 has embraced the highest-level
English, History and Mathematics courses. Industry
framework course enrolments have also exploded,
particularly in the Information Technology and
Retail training areas.<<

*rolls eyes* Is this the most contradictory thing they've ever said? VET courses are not "high level" and are not "aiming high". But hell, they both had increased enrolments, so why not just lump them together under the same heading.

I hate all this bullshit that suggests under its breath that the REASON enrolments have increased in certain courses is BECAUSE of HSC reforms.

>>Highlights include:
1846 entries in English Extension 2 up by 23%
4534 entries in English Extension 1 up by 15%
21 244 entries in English Advanced up by 4%<<

4% is a highlight. I'm surprised it's not more. Capping is forcing people to do Eng Adv, which BOS can then palm off as high-level course 'embracement'.

(...What's the correlation between people who do Eng Adv and people who attend uni, I wonder?)

>> 3080 entries in Mathematics Extension 2
up by 14%

[...]

The numbers of students taking on the top-level
Mathematics Extension 2 course previously known
as 4 unit Mathematics has also increased significantly
in the last two years, with a 16% increase in 2001 and a
further 14% jump this year.<<

... which would surely tend to prove that course enrolment figures don't necessarily have much to do with how BOS treats them, pre-results. They changed the name from 4u to Ext2, and enrolments jumped 16%. There was NO significant change made to the maths syllabus. So... why is BOS taking credit for any enrolment changes?

Silly bastards. I can't believe they're still carrying on with this shit.

Brianna

 

[timbk2]

we're thinking of registering "Bored of Studies" as a real organisation... wouldnt it be great to take over BOS.

 

[Minai]

hahaha!
all of that is so true!

 

[hyaku666]

That would be effing brill. If only...

Well, you guys will have your day in the sun, come November. Wonder how happy BOS will be to hear about you then. :-D

Meanwhile, you guys aren't even listed in Google. Submit! Link madly!!

(more BOS ranting)
found this article based on the above puff piece by BOS, no doubt:-

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/06/01/1022569845445.html

HSC pupils take on the tough stuff
-------------------------------------------
[...]
>>NSW Premier Bob Carr said: "The new HSC is reversing the previous decline in students doing advanced courses under the old HSC.<<

Grrrr stop politicising the choices of 60 000 students trying to grasp their way into uni! Pressure to attend uni is constantly put upon us. Sure, "content of course" is a consideration when students choose their subjects - but so is "how it will affect my UAI". That's the real reason Eng Adv enrolments have, and will continue to, increase.

Meanwhile, they're comparing 4u English to ONE YEAR of it! Increases in such a short history are not significant!

>>"New HSC students are aiming higher this year and returning to higher-level study. The turnaround is particularly evident in the core subject of English."<<

This is such crap. How can they be simultaneously "aiming higher" and also studying more VET courses?


>>This year more than 21,000 students, about a third of the entire 2002 HSC candidature, are studying the challenging English Advanced course.

This compares with 8,803 students who did the corresponding highest-level 2-unit English course in 2000 as part of the old HSC.<<

Okay, they're completely NOT comparable, because the old system had three tiers of English, we only have two. So it's completely invalid to even mention them in the same breath.

>>Mr Carr said: "These figures show that students are motivated by the new HSC curriculum and are beginning to see the benefits of advanced level study in the new HSC."<<

More BS. The only "benefit" they see is to their UAI. Carr is adding meaning that simply is not there, to that bare statistic.

>>Also, more Year 12 students are sitting for the new HSC, with enrolments up by 4pc.<<

(...I suppose the "new" HSC is responsible for that too?)

>>Mr Carr said the industry-recognised VET courses were a new HSC success story. "I am particularly pleased by the 38pc increase in HSC Information Technology VET course enrolments," he said.

"These students can earn industry-recognised qualifications in the information technology industry, putting their foot in the jobs door even before they leave school."<<

Yeap... I'd really like to see the employment stats on that. Isn't there already a surplus of uni graduates in IT? Why are HSC graduates in IT going to be better off?

Yep, so, more BS. Die BOS die... die Carr govt die...

Brianna

 

[Lazarus]

Wow, we could start a new section!!

"Bree's Weekly Random Rant"

 

[hyaku666]

Yeh, except it wouldn't be very random, would it? ;-)

 

[fatmuscle]

All Ty Webb wannabes are welcome to BOS

 

[ben]

..

Yeah I take an "advanced" subject such as "English Advanced"

I see this great advantage and benefits from doing useless activities such as analysing the amazingly stupid poem THE DOOR, or the pathetic short story SKY HIGH. But it's the screenshot from Encarta - 'Fractals' which takes the lead. The benefits are just incredible (beyond what words can describe) .

The new HSC is just great.

 

[Alex]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, THE CLASS OF 2002 IS SMARTER, MORE SOPHISTICATED, MORE INTELLIGENT, GENIUS-LIKE, EXTRAORDINARILY ABLE TO USE THEIR BRAINS TO AN UPPER DEGREE.

um, anyway, what I meant was. 2002 RULZ!!!!!!!!

p.s. Please ignore the above message AND I HATE BOB CARR (though labor rules)

 

[dissonance]

appearently anyone doing ext. history can thank bob carr. Since he's a historian himself he "appearently" put pressure on the board of studies to include an extension course in history that originally was no going to be offered...

 

[ben]

...

I wish there was ext. design and tech, ext business studies and 1unit physics

 

[Minai]

yes.....I wish they still had the old 3U economics

 

[pulse]

meh

its well known it takes the board of studies 34 years to change something that they know is wrong with their course. those 34 years have slowly rolled by and they have now changed the names of subjects.

so after all that hard work i say why not let them pat themselves on the back!

33 years from now i be able to look on the board of studies and see they may have fixed the complete mess they made of 2001

 

[Lee]

you know, somehow i don't think thats ever going to happen

 

[Nelly]

As was mentioned before, the "Advanced English" course is unbelievable. I mean what are the other options. All I've heard about General or 'standard' is that it pulls you down, so why choose it. It's all just a monopoly by the government to make themselves look good.

I say the Bored of Studies write to SMH or whatever, and announce how unbelievably crap the new HSC is. Thank You

 

[Morgues]

Its not only English, even subjects like Physics have taken the more "English" style perspective shfting from the actual physics in the process and IMO limiting the course.
Its now just as important to word yourself properly as it is to understand the actual content which i think is just silly

 

[Lazarus]

If all of the courses seem to be suddenly becoming more 'english-oriented', why not take advantage of it?

Instead of complaining about the system, simply learn how to write the answers and get the marks you want.

The HSC is a big game. Most people don't learn how to play until it's too late.

 

[Nelly]

Laz, you're making the 'game' seem easy to understand/play. But in Physics, the teachers are looking for 'key-words' (which is a concept that defies the laws of justice), and if you don't write the 'key-words' you don't get the marks. The problem is, we don't know what the key-words are, so it makes it hard to play 'The Game'.

 

[Lazarus]

The more you play, the easier it gets.

If you don't know what these 'key words' are, make a visible effort to go and discover them! Learn from your school assessment tasks. Speak to your teachers. Obtain copies of the works of the students who are awarded 100% for a particular task. Scour the syllabus.

Not sure where to start? It doesn't matter. Start anywhere, go everywhere. You'll pick up a lead sooner than you think.

 

[Nelly]

Good point, I'm hoping that the standards package helps, because then if I write my answers similar to the HSC, and I get marked lower, I can argue my case. Hopefully it's as good as the Board makes it out to be.