[Year 12 SofDev] Subject scaling???? Anyone know how SD andITAwere treated this year?

[Karl Blake]

Hi Robert, I was aware of the logic behind scaling but my thoughts are that the degree of difficulty of the exam reflects the anticipated cohort sitting for the paper.  If that's the case then I expect that the students who selected IT will have a subject mean that still causes the marks to be scaled down.  Unfortunately it becomes a bit of a spiral, brighter students shy away from subjects that are scaled down.

Oh well, maybe now that the first year of a new subject is over we may attract more students from the top end. 

Karl Blake
Distance Education Centre Victoria

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Robert Hind 
  To: Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List 
  Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 4:52 PM
  Subject: Re: [Year 12 SofDev] Subject scaling???? Anyone know how SD andITAwere treated this year?


  No help to you on details for this year.

  Grades given for exams do not depend on the "easiness" of the exams. My understanding is that the top ?% of students get an A+, the next ?% get an A, etc down to UG which is obtained by a very small percentage of students. This is the same for all subjects. The median student in every subject gets about a bottom B grade. Initial study scores are based on these grades. Have a look at exam marks and grades on the VCAA website.

  Scaling is a computerised exercise to try to make study scores equivalent between subjects. It is based on cross subject comparisons for all students. So a student doing Specialist Maths is scaled up because the students doing Specialist are essentially good and doing better than average across the board - else why do Specialist rather than Further Maths? 

  If ITA gets scaled down it will not be because of the exam itself but rather because the ITA students are generally below average across the board.

  I may be wrong :-( but this is my understanding

  Robert Hind (Semi-retired)
  Ex Traralgon and Ashwood

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Karl Blake 
    To: Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List ; IT APPS IT Apps ; Year 11 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List 
    Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 4:11 PM
    Subject: [Year 12 SofDev] Subject scaling???? Anyone know how SD and ITAwere treated this year?


    Hi All, does anyone know which way the subject scaling was applied to SD and ITA this year?  I had hoped that the new Study Design would address the scaling down issue that was a problem with Information Systems and IP&M but the exams seemed a little on the easy side so I'm expecting the same treatment this year.

     

    Regards,

     

    Karl Blake

     

    Distance Education Centre Victoria

    315 Clarendon Street Thornbury 3071

    kblake at distance.vic.edu.ay


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