HSC questions easier for girls (1 Viewer)

[Rafy]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...easier-for-girls/story-e6freuzi-1225971758561

GIRLS are getting an unfair advantage over boys in HSC exams because the questions are better suited to the way their brains work.

In the past, boys traditionally excelled in more technical subjects such as maths and science.

But the "deliberate feminisation" of the way questions are framed has seen the balance shifted in the other direction, educationalists say.

Nearly two-thirds of the HSC First in Course winners this year were girls - 70 out of 107. Three of the top five schools by HSC results were girls' schools and the others co-educational.

But Peter West, a former lecturer in education at the University of NSW and now an educational consultant, said: "If these patterns were reversed there would be a public outcry. They'd be saying girls are being denied justice.

"All subjects have become more verbal, even in maths and physics, and this is the area where girls excel.

"When exam questions start with, 'Discuss the importance of this', boys' hearts just seize up."

Kevin Donnelly, a former academic and now director of the Educational Standards Institute, said "positive discrimination" for girls began about 20 years ago.

Until then girls did badly in subjects such as maths and science.

He said boys "need a more structured or scaffolded program".

Minister for Education and Training Verity Firth said that generally girls have out-performed boys, "although boys have improved their representation" on this year's merit lists.

 

[Pyrobooby]

Wonder if Peter West and Peter North are related

OT: I never realised the delicate science behind the questions set in exams and such could determine the performance of girls/boys. Interesting.

 

[Absolutezero]

While there may be a basis of truth somewhere in there, I think its been grossly misrepresented.

 

[deterministic]

Suppose HSC English is not made compulsory (no reason why it should be), I wonder how much these results will change.

Also judging by the top achievers in course list, in stereotypically "male" subjects like maths extension 2, chemistry and physics, the majority of the top achievers are male.

 

[ohexploitable]

Peter North

I laughed, I feel kinda homo.

 

[Phoenix Fury]

While there may be a basis of truth somewhere in there, I think its been grossly misrepresented.

+1 with 'grossly' in caps

 

[MzG1zi]

While there may be a basis of truth somewhere in there, I think its been grossly misrepresented.

+2
i just hate the title: "Exams are in the pink" and the way the whole article positions the reader to think that feminists are responsible

 

[Phoenix Fury]

Fi Posted at 10:40 AM December 16, 2010
I agree - my son would love to do medicine but because the UMAT exam is so english based he failed the exam. He is very gifted in maths and science, and is average in english based subjects (exactly what this article is talking about) so was never going to get past the UMAT exam. This is typical of a lot of boys. So our clever scientists are not ending up in medicine where they are sorely needed.

.

 

[study-freak]

Fi Posted at 10:40 AM December 16, 2010
I agree - my son would love to do medicine but because the UMAT exam is so english based he failed the exam. He is very gifted in maths and science, and is average in english based subjects (exactly what this article is talking about) so was never going to get past the UMAT exam. This is typical of a lot of boys. So our clever scientists are not ending up in medicine where they are sorely needed.

LOL that's just an excuse from the father... true for section 2 but the rest, not really
I got a decent result in UMAT with my ESL English

 

[mirakon]

original article is bullshit. if a guy is smart enuff, he can answer those questions to the same ability as a girl can.

 

[LoveHateSchool]

I think that with hard work, either gender can be successful in ANY subject. Maybe I'll allow that on average, one gender may find a particular subject easier. But I know many girls fantastic at maths/science but not english and boys great at english but not math/science. Also, lots of people of both genders who are great at every subject.

 

[Aquawhite]

While there may be a basis of truth somewhere in there, I think its been grossly misrepresented.

I agree, but only to an extent; whilst it is true that talented students regardless of their gender can adapt their brain to use both sides and hence a intellectually flexible, and that the questions are - in some way - tailored to the female brain, there is a problem in this system. By taking a look at questions in various subjects (from English, Maths, Sciences and Humanities) there is a rather distinct trend that shows all of the subjects growing toward these 'feminine' questions and verbs. While this isn't a severe injustice at the moment, if the trend were to continue and the male brain not to adapt earlier in child learning, then we'll see the Top Achievers list almost completely overrun by females.

As a side note, the reason that females are achieving so well in HSC subjects is because majority of the subjects are humanities based, which is definitely a female brain field.

 

[S4Saustralia]

Pretty horrible article...

However, as a male...I am better in my Arts/Humanities subjects than maths and science, so the stereotype probably isnt 100% accurate.

 

[slyhunter]

If the article has created this amount of debate, it's done its job.

 

[erespall]

this topic came up in my economics class a few months ago, bit shabby on the details but the gist of it, according to my teacher was that girls writing is much more competitive than boys in that girls will answer the question, show relationships better and are much more meticulus in their writing, especially for questions such as "discuss the significance of" or "explain how...." but yeah thats what ive been told and so now hes trying to get us to write more "competitively"