few Q's on Eng Ext 2 (1 Viewer)

[Ollz San]

Hey there.
Just want to ask some questions to clarify a few things about this course.
- is Ext 2 scaled lower than Ext 1?
- what 's the difference of Ext 2 to Ext 1?
- in your opinion is this course hard? if so, what makes it hard?

thanks.

 

[timmii]

The scalings are dependent on the candidature, since the students of a higher capability are more likely to do ext2, it will probably be scaled higher.

Ext2 is basically "free", you do a major work that is marked externally, and there is no exam. You can write short stories, an essay, poetry, make a video, write a speech or radio play etc etc...

Ext 1 has a defined syllabus, there is an exam. My school for example studied teh genre of crime fiction. We had prescribed texts and course outline (huge bludge.....did nothing in class for three of the four terms except gossip).

Ext 2 is as hard as you want to make it. It takes a lot of work, dedication and enthusiasm, but its interesting. AS you set the guidelines for yourself, if you focus on something you enjoy and fascinates you it will merely be a labour of love. I found it hard in that a great deal of it was nothing like i'd ever done before. I did a critical response, so I had to go about learning how to structure an academic argument and did more detailed research than i had ever done before. i thought it was definitely worth it however Even if it was just an entire unit over before HSC exams began, while also taking pressure off my advanced english (which i hated) because at least 2 units of english have to count.

good luck!

 

[bookboy18]

The scaling really only depends on how many poeple do the course. Then it also depends on how well all those people go. That said, I believe that Ext 2 is really well scaled cause you only do this course if your good.

In Ext 2 you're basically on your own. You do all the research yourself, you do all the writing yourself and the only thing your teacher is there for is as a guide to keep you on track.

Extension 2 is not an easy course. It requires lots of time bu that doesn't matter. If you like English its a must.

 

[dissonance]

yeah, interestingly in 2001 ext.1 english was scaled a tiny bit higher than ext.2 english...not really enough to worry about though. This was because the candidature of 2001 ext.2 students on average didn't perform heaps better than everyone else in adv. or ext.1 english - of course this may change for 2002 or 2003

 

[Lazarus]

To reiterate, Prof. George Cooney, Chair of the Technical Committee on Scaling said the following when asked why English Ext 2 wasn't scaled higher than English Ext 1 when Maths Ext 2 was scaled higher than Maths Ext 1:

The reason the English Extension 2 scaled marks were lower than the Mathematics Extension 2 marks was because of their performance on the Extension 1 paper.

The Mathematics Extension 2 students performed very well on the Extension 1 paper whereas the English Extension 2 students performed no better, as a group, than the total candidature. The mean of the Mathematics Extension 2 group on the Extension 1 paper was well above average, whereas the mean of the English Extension 2 group on the Extension 1 paper was average only. This was actually in accord with observations made by the English examiners, that their Extension 2 students were different from the Extension 1 students but were not necessarily from the top English students. This is very different to what happens in Mathematics.

It is the relative performance of the Extension 2 group on the Extension 1 paper that determines the way the marks are scaled. If the English Extension 2 group had performed better on the Extension 1 paper their scaled marks wouild have been higher.

 

[Ollz San]

Thanks for the replies.
So, I have to do Ext 1 in order to do Ext 2 right?
And, are you saying that Ext 2 is for those who want to do a major work? is that all you do, a major work?

 

[Lazarus]

Yes.
Yes.

 

[Ollz San]

rightio, thanks heaps.

 

[Musicman]

From experience

Having done the HSC this year; the best advice i can give. Forget about scaling, and marks, and whatever crap they tell you!!!

Choose the subjects you have a passion for. For me it was english extension 2 and legal studies. I found that I put in much more work because i loved these subjects. In the end - i scored my best marks in this subjects - 49/50 and 96/100 respectively! And I don't care what ever happens with scaling, i know that a mark like that can't ever end up looking crap!!!

Whats more important though is that i finished the year with more than just a mark but also a passion, knowledge in an area i truly liked and a better indication of what i wanted to do as a career.

Best of luck - follow u're heart!

 

[Ollz San]

Thanks!
I do love English.