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5. 2014 HSC Notes from the Marking Centre – Community and Family Studies

2014 Notes from the Marking Centre – Community and Family Studies

Introduction

This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 Community and Family Studies course. It contains comments on candidate responses to particular parts of the 2014 Higher School Certificate examination, highlighting candidates’ strengths and indicating where they need to improve.

This document should be read along with:

• the Community and Family Studies Stage 6 Syllabus
• the 2014 Higher School Certificate Community and Family Studies examination
• the marking guidelines
• Advice for HSC students about examinations
• other support documents developed by the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW to assist in the teaching and learning of Community and Family Studies in Stage 6.

Section I – Part B

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• demonstrating understanding of what is meant by the term ‘youth’ (Q.21)
• outlining socioeconomic factors that affect youth (Q.21)
• outlining the characteristics of both families in crisis and the homeless (Q.22)
• understanding the concept of validity and the link to integrity (Q.23a)
• proposing appropriate strategies to maintain the integrity of data in research (Q.23b)
• describing the features of a written report (Q.24)
• knowing about interviews and questionnaires (Q.25)
• understanding the importance of the parent–child relationship (Q.26)
• identifying the positive implications of having males in a parenting role (Q.27b)
• understanding equity issues and having associated management strategies for a chosen group (Q.28)
• providing relevant examples.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• making the link between socioeconomic status and how it affects the wellbeing of youth (Q.21)
• showing how families in crisis and the homeless are unique entities (Q.22)
• understanding the term ‘integrity’ (Q.23a)
• proposing more than one strategy (Q.23b)
• understanding the difference between the research project and the written report (Q.24)
• providing reasons for the use of interviews and questionnaires as research methods (Q.25)
• linking research methods to the hypothesis (Q.25)
• knowledge of parenting styles (Q.26)
• understanding the impact of the parenting style on the relationship between parent and child (Q.26)
• providing specific examples of how limited finance can affect preparations to become parents (Q.27a)
• knowing about social parents, for example fostering, adoption, step-parenthood and surrogacy (Q.27b)
• using criteria to make a judgement about the effectiveness of strategies used to address equity issues (Q.28).

Section II

Question 29 – Family and Societal Interactions

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• demonstrating knowledge of agencies that protect the welfare of children (part a)
• demonstrating knowledge of the aged (part b)
• providing examples of activities of the aged in the community (part b)
• demonstrating knowledge of the community support available for adults and families (part c)
• providing examples of community support (part c).

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• identifying specific agencies and their associated legislation (part a)
• linking how activities of the aged can contribute to the community (part b)
• consideration of both advantages and disadvantages when the question asks for an analysis (part c).

Question 30 – Social Impact of Technology

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• providing examples of electronic media (part a)
• understanding the effects of technological development on electronic media (part a)
• identifying and providing characteristics and features of one specific technology (part b)
• considering the positive effects of technology on work efficiency and education (part c)
• providing examples that were relevant to their analysis (part c).

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• understanding the breadth of range of electronic media (part a)
• familiarity with recent developments in technology (part a)
• linking recent developments in technology to the effect on electronic media (part a)
• supporting their response with examples (part a)
• understanding the concept of community life (part b)
• demonstrating a clear relationship between a specific technology and its effects on community life (part b)
• using relevant examples to support their response (part b)
• consideration of both advantages and disadvantages when a question asks for an analysis (part c).

Question 31 – Individuals and Work

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• knowing about the roles in the household that may need to be shared (part a)
• describing paid and unpaid work and the needs that are met by both (part b)
• linking the response to the scenario (part b)
• understanding structural changes and different types of work patterns (part c)
• analysing the relationships between structural changes and the suitability of work patterns (part c).

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• considering all aspects of a question; for example, negotiating and sharing (part a)
• consideration of both similarities and differences in a question that requires candidates to compare (part b)
• using specific examples to show various structural changes (part c)
• relating work patterns to structural changes (part c).