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Author Topic: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit  (Read 3071 times)  Share 

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2muchanxiety4me

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Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« on: July 02, 2017, 03:31:58 pm »
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If you fail a unit by about 5% is it possible to continue doing the next unit up if you talk to the coordinator?
are they usually pretty chill with letting 1st years continue despite failing the prerequisite unit? would a unit coordinator usually say yes or no?
problem was i got very lazy towards the end, my assignment mark average was ~84% but i did shockingly bad on the exam.

Thanks in advance :)

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Re: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2017, 07:02:03 pm »
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Depends on which unit you just missed the pass mark on and which course you're doing. In most instances it is usually okay if you fail the unit and do the next, as long as you come back and complete the unit whenever it's next available (I assume this is a core unit). I would recommend that you don't just take my word as is and actually go to Student Services for your managing faculty to double check this.
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2muchanxiety4me

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Re: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2017, 05:51:00 pm »
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The unit is MTH1020 and I want to do MTH1030, but im scared that i didnt pass MTH1020, i dont think its a core unit for the course, but its one of the units listed in my major.

my idea was to message the MTH1030 coordinator and ask for his permission to enroll into MTH1030 if i just barely fail MTH1020 (around 45%) and tell him that its part of my major and that it'll greatly delay my progress. which it will, its not like I'm lying or anything.

Mod edit: merged double post. Please edit your existing post instead of making two posts in a row, unless necessary.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2017, 06:23:49 pm by Aaron »

keltingmeith

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Re: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2017, 06:00:18 pm »
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my idea was to message the MTH1030 coordinator and ask for his permission to enroll into MTH1030 if i just barely fail MTH1020 (around 45%) and tell him that its part of my major and that it'll greatly delay my progress. which it will, its not like I'm lying or anything.

He might let you if you promise to do 1020 at the same time, but I wouldn't hold your breath... It's not like you need 1020 to do 1030 - the content is actually really unrelated. But, I have a feeling they might see this as poor maths ability. Like, I'm not going to make any judgements - there could be any reason you failed, and the uni's new sick during exam policy isn't going to help anyone, but I'm just trying to look from their perspective here.

2muchanxiety4me

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Re: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2017, 06:07:25 pm »
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Nah you can't do them at the same time, i already asked. also mth1020 is a prereq for mth1030
I asked him awhile ago after my MTH1020 exam if i can do MTH1030 given that i didnt pass MTH1020 and he replied saying that he hasnt seen many students do well in 1030 after just scraping by in 1020 and he also mentioned that its worth reattempting 1020.

so idk, he never explicitly said no but i dont wanna make any outlandish assumptions.

Also, sorry if the uncertainty in my statements are annoying,
I can tell its kinda all over the place.

Mod edit: merged double post. Please edit your existing post instead of making two posts in a row, unless necessary.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2017, 06:23:02 pm by Aaron »

Aaron

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Re: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2017, 06:43:14 pm »
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There's no harm in requesting to do it, but I am also of the view (as stated above) that they may see this as poor maths ability (if you fail the prereq) and deny your request to do it.

However, none of us here represent Monash or anyone who can influence this... so your best bet would be to contact the person responsible :)
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Re: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2017, 10:55:38 pm »
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Just to add to the already fantastic advice you've got.
I think you'll find it easiest to convince the coordinator to waive the prereq if you can identify why you failed and explain to them how that came to be and how and why it won't happen again.

In many ways, that's fairly reasonable. If you can't do that, you probably should actually take their advice and retake the subject imo
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2muchanxiety4me

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Re: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2017, 11:20:57 pm »
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Yeah, I mean he is a fairly reasonable bloke. I do recall him saying something along the lines of "if you're shy a few points, come talk to me and we can sort something out".

Basically, I'll just have to tell him that its essential for my maths major and on top of that it'll really help with saving time and money. (half a semester and $1k). which I guess isn't the end of the world but It would obviously really help. Plus I wouldn't be so silly next time by allocating such little time to study for MTH1020, as I've heard MTH1030 is really quite challenging.

I just hope he agrees and sees from my perspective, because I definitely don't lack the ability to interpret complex information, it was just mainly an issue of time allocation + being lazy.

Also thanks for all the assistance, this has been really bugging me lately   :-\

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Re: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« Reply #8 on: July 08, 2017, 01:34:08 am »
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I think you get around 48 or 49 for a subject thry are sometimes nice and give you your actual grade as a passing 50.

From my MTH1030 lecturer he said if anyone were to get 50-59 for that subject he would strongly encoueage anyone to stop maths as a whole since you were more than likely fail any 2nd year units. (Outside of any special circumstances)

I know people who got 85+ for 1020 but struggled in 1030 (results pending)

However i also feel that maths at uni isnt really determing how good you are at maths but more about following rules/structuee and beating the system.

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Re: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2017, 01:54:15 am »
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I think you get around 48 or 49 for a subject thry are sometimes nice and give you your actual grade as a passing 50.

This will vary from school to school, however I'm fairly sure that if you get between 40 and 50, they will look through your exam a second time just to see if there are any marks they can give you. I know this is definitely true for some, just not sure on maths.

However i also feel that maths at uni isnt really determing how good you are at maths but more about following rules/structuee and beating the system.

I mean, I'd argue the complete opposite, and would say that high school is the real one that's about following rules and beating the system. In uni they care more about are you able to take things in and think mathematically.

-snip-

Assuming you spoke to Simon Teague? He may seem a bit weird/creepy, but he does give a crap and is usually fairly reasonable. Do wish you all the best - at the very least, I'm sure he can help you with coming up with strategies to stop this from happening again.

Sine

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Re: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« Reply #10 on: July 08, 2017, 02:03:15 am »
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Hand the uni's new sick during exam policy isn't going to help anyone, but I'm just trying to look from their perspective here.
what is the exam policy?

I've heard stuff that exam weightings will decrease though to 60% not sure when

I mean, I'd argue the complete opposite, and would say that high school is the real one that's about following rules and beating the system. In uni they care more about are you able to take things in and think mathematically.
hmm really just basing it off everyone basically full marking assignments with no actual understanding - I wouldn't be surprised if some people who full marked these got <20% if under test conditions. Also less "tricks" in uni maths so in high school you need to know stuff inside out to not get stuff wrong and in uni you can get through with a superficial understanding since they are nice with their exams.

keltingmeith

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Re: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2017, 02:26:52 am »
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what is the exam policy?

I've heard stuff that exam weightings will decrease though to 60% not sure when

Was referring to the new sick policy. Used to be you could go to the exam if you were feeling sick, still try it, but opt to leave early if you didn't think you'd be able to complete it and apply to resit. Now they're ambiguously making it sound like you need to apply up to two days before to even get any.

hmm really just basing it off everyone basically full marking assignments with no actual understanding - I wouldn't be surprised if some people who full marked these got <20% if under test conditions. Also less "tricks" in uni maths so in high school you need to know stuff inside out to not get stuff wrong and in uni you can get through with a superficial understanding since they are nice with their exams.

I mean, you're assuming all of these people isolated themselves completely from society when doing the assignments? They're almost certainly not only working on this with friends, but consulting the internet, their textbooks, as well as spending full days working on it.

Furthermore, I'd argue that the "tricks" is what makes high school less about maths and more superficial. In high school, they need some method to split you up - one of those ways is to take the same concept, but dress it up in a million different ways, and make it obscenely and unnecessarily hard. In the process, you lose the beauty and simplicity of the maths, and are left with what VCAA wants it to be - a way to separate the top end. And how do the top end end up being separated? By how well they can work with the concept? No, it's by which of then remembered the trick for that type of question, and managed to use it right. That's not maths, that's being a computer. Uni maths they don't care about that - instead, they simply figure out what concept they're trying to test, and then ask you about it. No fanciness, no relying on tricks - just simple questions and answers.

Sine

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Re: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2017, 03:36:51 am »
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Was referring to the new sick policy. Used to be you could go to the exam if you were feeling sick, still try it, but opt to leave early if you didn't think you'd be able to complete it and apply to resit. Now they're ambiguously making it sound like you need to apply up to two days before to even get any.
fairo  :P
I mean, you're assuming all of these people isolated themselves completely from society when doing the assignments? They're almost certainly not only working on this with friends, but consulting the internet, their textbooks, as well as spending full days working on it.
hmm nah not assuming. I'm just talking on a purely scoring basis - at uni (from what I've seen) you don't have to understand to score well, usually just regurgitation. Also it's not even people finding the answers but people going to MLC and asking for them lol

Furthermore, I'd argue that the "tricks" is what makes high school less about maths and more superficial. In high school, they need some method to split you up - one of those ways is to take the same concept, but dress it up in a million different ways, and make it obscenely and unnecessarily hard. In the process, you lose the beauty and simplicity of the maths, and are left with what VCAA wants it to be - a way to separate the top end. And how do the top end end up being separated? By how well they can work with the concept? No, it's by which of then remembered the trick for that type of question, and managed to use it right. That's not maths, that's being a computer. Uni maths they don't care about that - instead, they simply figure out what concept they're trying to test, and then ask you about it. No fanciness, no relying on tricks - just simple questions and answers.
Fair enough, although vce maths is ridiculously boring without those separator questions. These tricks come up usually only once so it's not about remembering it - so it's a new "trick" each year.

2muchanxiety4me

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Re: Not meeting prerequisites for a unit
« Reply #13 on: July 08, 2017, 04:23:12 pm »
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Assuming you spoke to Simon Teague? He may seem a bit weird/creepy, but he does give a crap and is usually fairly reasonable. Do wish you all the best - at the very least, I'm sure he can help you with coming up with strategies to stop this from happening again.

Nah not Simon, it was Burkard. I didn't personally speak to him, he was just saying to everyone in his introductory mathematics lecture that you can talk to him if you want to do a unit but you don't meet the prerequisites by like 2-3 points.