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2013 HSC Notes from the Marking Centre – Society and Culture

2013 Notes from the Marking Centre – Society and Culture

Introduction

This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 Society and Culture course. It contains comments on candidate responses to the 2013 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 Society and Culture Stage 6 Syllabus
the 2013 Higher School Certificate Society and Culture examination
the marking guidelines
FAQs: Society and Culture Personal Interest Project (PIP)
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 Society and Culture in Stage 6.

Personal Interest Project

Characteristics of better projects:

topic choice was clearly defined
there was clear evidence of an effective research process, integrating both primary and secondary research findings
a range of primary and secondary resources from both electronic and printed sources was used
resources were clearly and appropriately annotated
research findings were synthesised in an in-depth and sophisticated way
course concepts were thoroughly integrated
cross-cultural and continuity and/or change perspectives were made explicit
the project log provided a holistic overview of the candidate’s research development with a reflective analysis of methodologies which also identified potential bias, where appropriate, and critical judgement of their research findings
an understanding of the limitations of particular research methodologies was demonstrated
a high level of social and cultural literacy was demonstrated.

Characteristics of weaker projects:

the topic selected was either very broad or proved difficult to research over a sustained period, which prevented the candidate from being able to develop their ideas
where very personal issues were selected, it was difficult to relate these to syllabus content, course concepts and appropriate social issues
bias in research or personal views was not acknowledged
issues that had ethical considerations were not addressed
the central material often consisted of summarising material from secondary sources about an issue, without sufficient judgement regarding their research findings
log entries were often calendar entries consisting of simplistic overviews of each month rather than a developmental analysis or reflection on the research process
not all secondary materials used were referenced or referenced correctly
the resources used were not annotated.

Recommendations

select a topic that will allow you to conduct valid primary and secondary research and enable you to analyse and integrate findings
discuss your topic selection with your teacher if you think your topic or methodology may be controversial
if you choose to conduct primary research using the internet, you need to demonstrate an awareness of the validity, bias and usefulness of those methodologies
your log needs to be more than a chronological list of events and occurrences – it should be a holistic statement of reflection on how and why the research took place and the effectiveness of the overall research process
when you discuss the ideas of others, you should try to synthesise these ideas into discussions on your own views
acknowledge the works of others by referencing, using a referencing system such as the Harvard system
any information deemed significant to the project should generally be located within the central material. Remember that appendices are not included in the marking guidelines or considered in marking the project
integrate all the methodologies used in the central material rather than including a separate chapter for each methodology.