2015 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 the 2015 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 Community and Family Studies Stage 6 Syllabus
- the 2015 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:
- explaining how sampling contributes to reliable and valid data (Q21a)
- knowledge of strategies that ensure privacy (Q21b)
- understanding the relationship between access to childcare services and wellbeing for first-time parents (Q22)
- providing detailed information about both questionnaires and case studies (Q23)
- identifying the preparations that a carer must undertake (Q24)
- identifying the characteristics of people with disabilities and explaining how these characteristics affect their access to services (Q25)
- identifying examples of informal support and how they assist the parent(s) (Q26)
- outlining community attitudes towards various groups (Q27)
- identifying equity issues that are of concern for various groups (Q28)
- describing government policy and legislation that are relevant to various groups (Q28).
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- understanding specific types of sampling and how they relate to reliability and validity (Q21a)
- differentiating between respect and privacy (Q21b)
- understanding how respect can be ensured in a research study (Q21b)
- explaining how access to childcare services improves wellbeing for first-time parents (Q22)
- understanding the importance of using two research methodologies to give depth, reliability and validity to research findings (Q23)
- using correct syllabus terminology (Q24, Q25 and Q26)
- explaining how informal support assists parents to meet their parental responsibilities (Q26)
- establishing the links between informal support and parental responsibilities, for example, duty of care, discipline and setting limits (Q26)
- making a judgement about the attempts to improve community attitudes towards various groups and the impact on the groups’ wellbeing (Q27).
Section II
Question 29 – Family and Societal Interactions
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- demonstrating knowledge and understanding of how individuals are protected by legislation (part a)
- demonstrating understanding of assisted reproductive technology and relevant legislation (part b)
- demonstrating understanding of the role of legislation in supporting the welfare of children and supporting the response with examples (part c)
- including links to wellbeing (part c).
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- supporting their response with an example (part a)
- providing a detailed understanding of how the current legislation supports access to assisted reproductive technology (part b)
- providing a clear link between the legislation and how it supports adults and families (part b)
- distinguishing between child protection legislation and safety legislation (part c)
- providing relevant examples for both child protection legislation and safety legislation (part c)
- providing a judgement about the effectiveness of child protection legislation in supporting the welfare of children (part c)
- providing a judgement on the effectiveness of safety legislation in supporting the welfare of children (part c).
Question 30 – Social Impact of Technology
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- providing examples of types of technology (part a)
- linking technological developments to the economic benefits they provide to individuals (part a)
- understanding how age can affect access and acceptance to technology (part b)
- providing positive and negative effects of technologies on the family (part c).
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- understanding how education can affect an individual’s access to and acceptance of technology (part b)
- using relevant examples to support their response (part b)
- providing links between the wellbeing of families and the use of technology (part c)
- using appropriate terminology to demonstrate understanding of the course content (part c).
Question 31 – Individuals and Work
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- understanding personal management skills relevant to the workplace (part a)
- demonstrating knowledge of labour force participation (part b)
- making links between labour force participation and lifespan (part b)
- demonstrating knowledge of workplace structures, rights and responsibilities (part c)
- providing examples relevant to work structures, rights and responsibilities (part c)
- providing a judgement about how workplace structures support employees’ rights and responsibilities (part c).
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- outlining a range of personal management skills required by youth in the workplace (part a)
- providing greater detail about how labour force participation varies across the lifespan (part b)
- demonstrating an understanding about the effectiveness of structures that support employees’ rights and responsibilities within the workplace (part c)
- providing a clear link to the impact on the wellbeing of employees, including specific factors of wellbeing (part c)
- using specific syllabus terminology (part c).
NSW Government