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March 29, 2024, 09:50:22 am

Author Topic: Low sac marks=low study score?  (Read 5671 times)  Share 

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Stormbreaker-X

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Low sac marks=low study score?
« on: June 15, 2020, 06:46:26 pm »
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Hey guys,
I am going history this year as a unit 3/4 subject, I was just wondering since I did badly on my first 2 sacs does that mean I could potentially get a low study score? Originally I was aiming for a study score of high 30's, but now I am starting to question if I can get a 25+ lol. My first sac mark was 50% and my ranking was average of the class. This time my sac mark was barely passing, which is a deadset 40% so now my ranking is probably towards the bottom of the class. This is also unit 3, so what study scores am I looking at?

Mackenzie Aps

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Re: Low sac marks=low study score?
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2020, 07:20:58 pm »
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I am curious on this as well. I'm doing Legal 3/4 this year and it has been harder to get a good score than I thought. I'm at one of the top boys private schools in Melbourne, and I think I'm sitting in the middle. I was sick during my first SAC but sat it and got a B.  I was confident going in but disappointed with the result. Generally I was told it needed more detail. Then I had my second one recently and put in more detail but only got a C+. I came out confident after the SAC but knowing I didn't answer much on the last question to warrant any decent mark out of 5 but again disappointed I only got a C+. Apparently this was the class average. My school only gives a grade, no other feedback and no comments or markings on the SAC. Is this normal?  We get general class feedback on questions but no individual  feedback. My first SAC i was told by my tutor was one of the hardest SACS they've seen. Not sure about this one I will get him to comment and give me feedback but again quite deflated with the marks.  I was hoping to get 35 to 40 if not low 40's, now I am not so sure this I can achieve.  If the SACS were in fact hard compared to other schools, how is this reflected. And if the average in the cohort is B/C+ again how is this taken into consideration. Is there any chance of moderation.  What would I need to get on my next 2 Unit 4 SACS (assuming there are only 2 each semester), to put me in a better position.

darkz

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Re: Low sac marks=low study score?
« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2020, 07:49:12 pm »
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Well, the actual scores you receive don't really mean anything - only your ranking and position in your cohort matters. If everyone is consistently doing poorly or the average is really low, then that is not necessarily bad. This is because after your SACs are finished, its essentially school vs. school, i.e. your SACs scale depending on how your cohort performs in relation to the state. What I mean by this is that, if your school's average in a particular subject is, let's say, 40%, but then everyone smashes the exam and scores A+'s, then the SACs will scale up accordingly.

Also, if you're doing poorly in SACs, more than not, that will probably reflect in your exam performance at the end of the year. So I'd recommend thinking about why you're not doing as well as you want, and then take action to rectify that.
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Mackenzie Aps

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Re: Low sac marks=low study score?
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2020, 09:16:06 pm »
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 ???
Well, the actual scores you receive don't really mean anything - only your ranking and position in your cohort matters. If everyone is consistently doing poorly or the average is really low, then that is not necessarily bad. This is because after your SACs are finished, its essentially school vs. school, i.e. your SACs scale depending on how your cohort performs in relation to the state. What I mean by this is that, if your school's average in a particular subject is, let's say, 40%, but then everyone smashes the exam and scores A+'s, then the SACs will scale up accordingly.

Also, if you're doing poorly in SACs, more than not, that will probably reflect in your exam performance at the end of the year. So I'd recommend thinking about why you're not doing as well as you want, and then take action to rectify that.


Thanks Darkz, I have thought about and took on the feedback from the first SAC that needed to include more detail, which I did, especially the 10 mark question I did about 1 1/4 pages detail (2 blank pages provided), but obviously ran out of time on the last 2 questions being 3 and 5 marks.  The 3 mark I answered somewhat and the last question a couple of sentences but obviously not enough. Unfortunately I have know knowledge of which question I answered ok and which I didn't as we dont get feedback. I know all the content, I am ahead of the class, I have a private tutor ever couple weeks and before SACS, I listen / attend the TuteSmart sessions and still this has not given me any edge.  I am only 1 of 3 Year 11'S  doing Legal as 3/4, the other 2 also got same if not less marks than myself.  So the average in my class has been 60-70% for the 2 SACs so far.  So when you say I am doing poorly and this will reflect my end of year exam, please explain?

Stormbreaker-X

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Re: Low sac marks=low study score?
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2020, 09:36:53 pm »
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???

Thanks Darkz, I have thought about and took on the feedback from the first SAC that needed to include more detail, which I did, especially the 10 mark question I did about 1 1/4 pages detail (2 blank pages provided), but obviously ran out of time on the last 2 questions being 3 and 5 marks.  The 3 mark I answered somewhat and the last question a couple of sentences but obviously not enough. Unfortunately I have know knowledge of which question I answered ok and which I didn't as we dont get feedback. I know all the content, I am ahead of the class, I have a private tutor ever couple weeks and before SACS, I listen / attend the TuteSmart sessions and still this has not given me any edge.  I am only 1 of 3 Year 11'S  doing Legal as 3/4, the other 2 also got same if not less marks than myself.  So the average in my class has been 60-70% for the 2 SACs so far.  So when you say I am doing poorly and this will reflect my end of year exam, please explain?
I think Darkz means that if you do bad on sacs you are most likely to perform bad on the exam unless some changes are made. For example if I fail a sac (I never failed one, but just saying), that would most likely mean I might do badly on the exam due to the fact that sacs are not that different compared to exams. Since you scored a B+ and a C and attend a top private school you must certainly will get scaled up due to the cohort advantage. My school is average, for history I scored D and E on my 2 sacs so far, that is why I am freaking out (luckily I am only doing this unit 3/4 in year 11). Some subjects I am doing well tho, Economics for my first test I got a B.

darkz

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Re: Low sac marks=low study score?
« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2020, 09:39:21 pm »
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???

Thanks Darkz, I have thought about and took on the feedback from the first SAC that needed to include more detail, which I did, especially the 10 mark question I did about 1 1/4 pages detail (2 blank pages provided), but obviously ran out of time on the last 2 questions being 3 and 5 marks.  The 3 mark I answered somewhat and the last question a couple of sentences but obviously not enough. Unfortunately I have know knowledge of which question I answered ok and which I didn't as we dont get feedback. I know all the content, I am ahead of the class, I have a private tutor ever couple weeks and before SACS, I listen / attend the TuteSmart sessions and still this has not given me any edge.  I am only 1 of 3 Year 11'S  doing Legal as 3/4, the other 2 also got same if not less marks than myself.  So the average in my class has been 60-70% for the 2 SACs so far.  So when you say I am doing poorly and this will reflect my end of year exam, please explain?

I'm not saying that you will definitely do poorly on the final exam - of course, a variety of factors are in play here e.g. the difficulty of your SACs in relation to the exam and the marking standard of your teacher. However, the fundamental basis of the VCE system i.e. how SACs work and the ranking system, is that everyone is ranked based upon their scores throughout the year, because that is the best predictor for who will do best on the exam, and who won't. For example, if someone consistently works hard and nails everything during the year, netting themselves high SAC scores, then there is a higher chance they will do well on the exam. Conversely, if you have someone who doesn't perform as well and is ranked lower, then you would expect them to score less than the other individual. Of course, this doesn't always reflect in practice, as there's a long period before the end of SACs and the actual exam, but it still serves as a relatively good indicator. Essentially, what I'm saying is that the actual score you get on your SAC doesn't matter. You could be getting 50% and still be rank 1. But if you're comparatively scoring worse than others, then that's something you'd worry about.

Also, I'd consider the lack of proper feedback to be a disservice to students and their learning. I understand that teachers can have busy schedules, but if you feel that the general feedback you're getting is inadequate, then I'd recommend making an appointment with your teacher outside of class or just go to another teacher in the department and get their point of view. But tread lightly because your teacher might get offended. Generally, however, teachers should be rather helpful e.g. at my school, if you were really struggling, teachers would go above and beyond to help you understand the content.
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Mackenzie Aps

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Re: Low sac marks=low study score?
« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2020, 10:57:47 pm »
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Thanks for the information. I dont know where I rank however the school teacher hasn't advised - is this something that is provided to students, should I ask the teacher or the Head of the Department?

darkz

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Re: Low sac marks=low study score?
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2020, 07:47:12 am »
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Thanks for the information. I dont know where I rank however the school teacher hasn't advised - is this something that is provided to students, should I ask the teacher or the Head of the Department?

Well at my school it was "against school policy" to give out rankings (except for the maths department apparently) as it would increase competition between students. But, generally, you can find out what position you're in just by talking with other people in your year level/ the year level above.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2020, 08:07:56 am by darkz »
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Mackenzie Aps

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Re: Low sac marks=low study score?
« Reply #8 on: August 08, 2020, 09:54:26 pm »
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So I have only had two SACS so far that count for Legal, first one B and the second one C+.  My formative SACS have been B as well. Unfortunately these don't count and it looks like the average in the class is B. Don't know my ranking and as I'm only one of the two Year 11's in the class, I don;t really mix and chat with others about their marks, so I still think I might be sitting on average but I don't know my rank. Unfortunately every time a SAC is schedule, COVID strikes again and back to home learning so only formative SACS. Don;t know what's going to happen for VCE whether they will scrap the SAC's counting or not. Don't know as I am Year 11 also.

Mackenzie Aps

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Re: Low sac marks=low study score?
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2020, 07:44:13 pm »
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Well at my school it was "against school policy" to give out rankings (except for the maths department apparently) as it would increase competition between students. But, generally, you can find out what position you're in just by talking with other people in your year level/ the year level above.

So now that all SACS have been completed including the formative), I still only managed to get B/C+.  My last SAC was divided up into the 2 area of studies first one I got 7/10 (B) and the second part 20/30 (C+) so in total 27/40 (68%).  I believe I was unfairly marked down in one of the questions which I think I should have got an extra mark for, but anyway, teachers won't budge I don't think.  So I finished up all year in the B/C+ which unfortunately I was disappointed with.  This was the average across the cohort though so my feeling is that I may be somewhere in the middle for ranking. With the last SAC though, apparently the average was C+ (63%) so I was above the average, so I don't think that would have jolted my ranking much.  I know I'm at a strong academic private school ands still the averages were around C+/B - what happens hereon with moderation and VACC moderation.  I can see that it is unlikely I will get a 40 raw score now.  COVID and all in Victoria, what am I likely to expect with study score.  Exam still ahead I know which counts for 50% but I would think that I would need to get at least 89% in the exam to get a 40?