Question in Exam not in Syllabus- ability to query? (1 Viewer)

[ebbygoo]

Question in Exam- is it in syllabus?

Hi there.

Recently in a chemistry test based on sources (and comprehension of them), there was a question where we were given information and the question said to create a timeline.
Now, is it possible to query this question's relevance/validity in the exam if
a) this wasn't taught in class and
b) there is nothing in the syllabus according to my interpretation.
The only dot point in the syllabus which could relate to a timeline is:
"analyse information to relate the chronology of the Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the modern era and possible future developments".

I know that this says to analyse the information in chronological order, however, isn't this different to actually creating a timeline? According to my interpretation (please correct me if I'm wrong), but actually making a timeline is a separate skill isn't it? I didn't perform well in this question as I didn't study how to create a timeline as it is not a specific required skill in the syllabus (unless I missed it when I searched the syllabus); hence, I am curious to know your opinions on whether or not I have the grounds to query (politely of course ) if the question should have been able to be assessed in the test.

Thanks.

 

[ebbygoo]

NOTE: If the above sounds completely ridiculous to you, please also let me know LOL

 

[OMGITzJustin]

typical question to ask by a prelim/hsc student, and it does sound ridiculous man, it's cringe worthy. Just deal with it, it's prelim... btw how did everyone else go with the question, i'm assuming everyone else did well in it

 

[ebbygoo]

No lol

 

[ebbygoo]

But it's the fact that we were asked to do something we hadnt learnt// not having any pointers from syllabus to learn/ I didn't study (how to create timeline) which tipped me off I suppose cause it caught me off guard
EDIT: as well as the fact it was worth 20% of the total marks lol

 

[MilkDrinker]

But isn't that a skill you would have learnt in junior science and hence expected to be "assumed knowledge"?

 

[RealiseNothing]

Surely you know how to construct a time line.

 

[cricketfan1997]

there are skills in science that are assumed knowledge. you wouldn't have been how to graph, or how to analyse the periodic table etc. because we learnt that stuff in year 7. there are no excuses, if you knew the info well enough, and understood how to make a timeline, you would have done well

 

[ebbygoo]

EXACTLY THIS. We never learnt this skill.
THIS is my problem lol.

And we weren't able to know the info lol it was a sources test (the content was not study-able).

 

[SuchSmallHands]

I'm sure the syllabus doesn't state that you have to be able write responses to short answer questions either, that you can respond in a prescribed format is just sort of assumed. If you understood the material it shouldn't have been difficult to construct a timeline about it.

 

[D94]

I would hardly call making a timeline a 'skill'. Pretty sure you would have made a timeline in mandatory history or in year 7/8 history - not all skills are exclusive to one subject. You would have seen at least 1 timeline in SOR1 textbooks, even if it's just a list of dates and events. The word 'timeline' is defined, so you could have drawn from the meaning to create one. Even the ticker in your signature can be construed as a timeline - a timeline of dates until your HSC exam.

Just because it's a source based exam, it doesn't mean you can't study for it. You know what topic you are doing, you should be revising that topic. You can draw from the content to help understand the questions, you can practice analysing material/sources, and you can develop an analytical understand of the topic. Did you really think you were going to be handed 20% of your mark without the need for study?

You may not agree with me, but IMO, this is a non-issue, so there are no grounds to make a complaint.

 

[ebbygoo]

I'm sure the syllabus doesn't state that you have to be able write responses to short answer questions either, that you can respond in a prescribed format is just sort of assumed. If you understood the material it shouldn't have been difficult to construct a timeline about it.

Thing is mate, I knew the material, but I didn't know how to make it into a timeline.

 

[ebbygoo]

I did study lol, I'm saying the questions in the test were things you couldn't have learnt through study.
Anyway your opinions are your opinions and that's what I asked for haha

 

[D94]

I did study lol, I'm saying the questions in the test were things you couldn't have learnt through study.
Anyway

You seem to have missed the main point about the timeline 'issue', but anyway.

 

[cricketfan1997]

woah i dont think you get it. the syllabus does not tell you that you are going to get extended responses, short answers, multiple choices. if you get a multiple choice in the exam, will you complain that it didnt say in the syllabus? the syllabus only tells you the CONTENT you are going to learn

 

[ebbygoo]

And what you need to do with it. I don't really appreciate your rhetoric, I asked whether or not you think I should query/why; not "please critisise me for my understanding of the syllabus". I searched the 7-10 syllabi and found no mention of the word. My interpretation is obviously different to yours, and thus in my interpretation, a timeline is a skill in itself, not a question style like short answer. The guy before who said that it can crossover from HSIE, that makes sense, and thanks for bringing that to my attention.

 

[SuchSmallHands]

if you knew the material, why did you struggle to put it in a timeline? Was it a strange question like describing the environmental impacts of a process in a timeline? If so I can see why you're annoyed because the question was stupid. But if it was the development of the model of the atom it shouldn't have been a problem. It's just like answering the question as an extending response, only horizontally on a line.

 

[ebbygoo]

No it was about the history of metals, and there was a massive range, but most of them were in the last 1-2cm of the scale, hence, I messed it up trying to fit them all in because I had no idea how to spread it out (i.e draw a box off to the side with a 'zoomed in' view of that 1-2cm, etc). And yeah this is why I know I didn't perform well in that question because I didn't have the 'skill' (call it what you want) to physically create the timeline, and being 20% of the total mark, it pulled my whole mark down. I suppose the whole reason its a big deal to me is because I really underperformed compared to what I actually know/the amount of time I put into the subject.

 

[SuchSmallHands]

That is really annoying, but unfortunately I don't think anyone would seriously consider your reproach. Just be glad it's only prelim I guess.

 

[cricketfan1997]

. I searched the 7-10 syllabi and found no mention of the word. .

haha you still dont get it? its not in the syllabus, the syllabus is for content