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2014 Notes from the Marking Centre – History Extension

Introduction

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

This document should be read along with:

• the History Extension Stage 6 Syllabus
• the 2014 Higher School Certificate History Extension 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 History Extension in Stage 6.

Section I

Question 1

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• making some form of judgement
• understanding the concept of truth as a purpose of history
• demonstrating an understanding of a range of relevant historiographical issues and ideologies as determined by the question.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• analysing the source to gain a more holistic understanding of what the author is saying
• selecting examples from the source that are relevant to the argument that the author (in this case, Fischer) is making
• selecting sources that work well with the provided source and the question
• constructing a response that relates to the source and the questions, and not just going into the exam with a prepared response that reflects a narrative or biographical approach
• using a variety of sources, including a range of contemporary, traditional and popular sources.

Section II

Question 2

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• knowing their area of debate and the historians’ interpretations
• engaging with the source
• making some form of judgement, rather than writing a narrative
• using the source to shape their argument.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• analysing the source to gain a more holistic understanding of what the author is saying
• identifying the case study and the area of debate at the beginning of the response
• addressing the key words of the question – ‘to what extent’
• not dealing with too many debates, which can lead to a superficial overview of the case study
• looking at different types of history, as well as more recent academic and/or popular interpretations.