Unit 3 average

[shahifa]

Hey guys,

So I got my unit 3 average for biology, its 85%  (93% in the first, and 76% in the second). I was just wondering is that a good average in terms Biology, that can assist me in getting a good study score? I know the exam also has a massive role in the study score, but i just need to know if at the moment am i sitting in a good position?

[mabajas76]

U could find out urself by looking at the study design and with some real simple math:
Unit 3 only has 2 AOS, each worth 50% of the unit grade, which is worth 16% of ur total study score.
So, each SAC is worth 4 marks out of ur 50 study score. A 93 in the first gives u 3.72 and a 76 in the second gives u 3.04. So out of a potential SS of 8 in unit three, u have 6.76 SS points. Now i dont think the exam has a MASSIVE impact, it really depends on how ur entire cohort goes on the exam so VCAA knows how hard/easy ur sacs were and moderates them, but i dont think it is like too extreme, but it does have a big impact. For arguments sake, lets say ur cohort scores the exact same average on exam as sac and all ranking stay the same. Then we will find ur unit 4 average.
U don't have any results for it yet, but unit 4 is MORE important than unit 3, it makes up 24% of ur SS, or 12 points. Assuming u get the same scores as unit 3 (they will prob go up as u have more experience/familiarity with the subject tho there is more to learn in unit 4), it would contribute 10.14 SS points. Then the exam, which contributes 60% or 30 points. Getting ur unit 3 average as THE average for ur exam and assuming ur sacs don't moderate, ur final SS RAW would be 42.25, which scales to basically the same.
So yeah, thats pretty good but DO NOT take that as a good indicator. Alot of things were assumed like ur sacs don't scale, and u maintain the same average doing unit 4 of bio and u get the same exam score and ur GAT results r also not like extremely, way off and bio doesn't suddenly scale this year and stuff. But yeah, its a good start, just keep it up!

[Help me now pls]

Yeah on the other hand i am quite worried at this point. I go to a select entry school, our first sac was very hard and I only got a 52% and the second sac i got a 65%. I'm not sure how my bio 3/4 study score is going to turn out at this point. I am feeling confident about unit 4 and the exam though. Currently in year 11 doing bio 3/4.

[mabajas76]

Well yeah if ur SACS r harder than they r meant to be, so like they should be similar to the exam, they would typically be scaled up. But keep in mind that there was a reason u may not have gotten the scores u wanted in unit 3...so maybe try out some different strats or something for studying if u feel u need it.

[shahifa]

U could find out urself by looking at the study design and with some real simple math:
Unit 3 only has 2 AOS, each worth 50% of the unit grade, which is worth 16% of ur total study score.
So, each SAC is worth 4 marks out of ur 50 study score. A 93 in the first gives u 3.72 and a 76 in the second gives u 3.04. So out of a potential SS of 8 in unit three, u have 6.76 SS points. Now i dont think the exam has a MASSIVE impact, it really depends on how ur entire cohort goes on the exam so VCAA knows how hard/easy ur sacs were and moderates them, but i dont think it is like too extreme, but it does have a big impact. For arguments sake, lets say ur cohort scores the exact same average on exam as sac and all ranking stay the same. Then we will find ur unit 4 average.
U don't have any results for it yet, but unit 4 is MORE important than unit 3, it makes up 24% of ur SS, or 12 points. Assuming u get the same scores as unit 3 (they will prob go up as u have more experience/familiarity with the subject tho there is more to learn in unit 4), it would contribute 10.14 SS points. Then the exam, which contributes 60% or 30 points. Getting ur unit 3 average as THE average for ur exam and assuming ur sacs don't moderate, ur final SS RAW would be 42.25, which scales to basically the same.
So yeah, thats pretty good but DO NOT take that as a good indicator. Alot of things were assumed like ur sacs don't scale, and u maintain the same average doing unit 4 of bio and u get the same exam score and ur GAT results r also not like extremely, way off and bio doesn't suddenly scale this year and stuff. But yeah, its a good start, just keep it up!

Thanks so much for the reassurance and the details, I found it extremely helpful! You're an absolute legend.

[schoolstudent115]

U could find out urself by looking at the study design and with some real simple math:
Unit 3 only has 2 AOS, each worth 50% of the unit grade, which is worth 16% of ur total study score.
So, each SAC is worth 4 marks out of ur 50 study score. A 93 in the first gives u 3.72 and a 76 in the second gives u 3.04. So out of a potential SS of 8 in unit three, u have 6.76 SS points. Now i dont think the exam has a MASSIVE impact, it really depends on how ur entire cohort goes on the exam so VCAA knows how hard/easy ur sacs were and moderates them, but i dont think it is like too extreme, but it does have a big impact. For arguments sake, lets say ur cohort scores the exact same average on exam as sac and all ranking stay the same. Then we will find ur unit 4 average.
U don't have any results for it yet, but unit 4 is MORE important than unit 3, it makes up 24% of ur SS, or 12 points. Assuming u get the same scores as unit 3 (they will prob go up as u have more experience/familiarity with the subject tho there is more to learn in unit 4), it would contribute 10.14 SS points. Then the exam, which contributes 60% or 30 points. Getting ur unit 3 average as THE average for ur exam and assuming ur sacs don't moderate, ur final SS RAW would be 42.25, which scales to basically the same.
So yeah, thats pretty good but DO NOT take that as a good indicator. Alot of things were assumed like ur sacs don't scale, and u maintain the same average doing unit 4 of bio and u get the same exam score and ur GAT results r also not like extremely, way off and bio doesn't suddenly scale this year and stuff. But yeah, its a good start, just keep it up!

That’s not how study scores work at all. E.g. I averaged 93% in unit 3 sacs for physics last year, and that was still a 50. Study scores are also not additive, rather, your unit scores are converted to a standardised score (non-linear) based on ranking/cohort performance. Then these standardised scores form a weighted sum which are then plotted against the rest of the state. Thence, the study score is calculated from that distributor.

[mabajas76]

I mean...yeah that's why I kept saying through out the post that it really is not accurate/alot of assumptions about how the SAC scores r changed, how the exam changes the score etc, I could have been more explicit but I feel like its better to get some good and motivating news rather than uncertainty/ things u don't understand. But also if u know ur sac rank, sac and exam scores then u can make a pretty good estimate...looking at the graph which puts examination marks against SS for bio, the average they r getting would land them around 42 SS assuming they gets same exam as sac scores along with all the other variables. Also the SD gives a break down of what each unit is worth and what each SAC is worth to that unit so i'm confused about how that's wrong? Could u elaborate? Cheers.