What is the workload of history extension and should I make it my 14th UNIT!! (1 Viewer)

[sweetalmond]

Hi everyone,
I'm in year 11. It is coming to that time of the year when we are given the opportunity to drop or pick up an extension course for year 12. I am currently doing 13 units:

English (Advanced)
Society and Culture
Modern/ Ancient History
Mathematics
French Continuers
English Extension 1

The dilemma I have is that my history teachers are saying I should do History extension as I score high marks in both histories and I have the capabilities. I am interested in History Extension, it seems an interesting course in what you learn and I would at least like to try it out for a term or so to see how it goes.
The problem is that I already do 13 units and I do not want to drop anything. I am doing well in all my subjects and like them a lot and I feel I could do well in the HSC with my subjects. English Extension 1 is interesting but it's also quite a lot of reading and work and I do French through open high school which is a distance course so I have to teach myself the content.
Will it be too much too much to pick up history extension as a 14th unit? Try it for a term and a bit and then drop sometime in term 1 next year?

My parents say I'm organised and if I really want to do it, just pick it up and then decide whether I like it or not. As we can drop at any time during the HSC.

I know some people will say I'm crazy to consider taking 14 units and I should only drop but I just want to try it out for a term and a half to see what it's like.

To anyone whose done extension 1 English and history extension at the same time, what's it like. How many hours a week would we be expected to spend on history extension.

I am also preparing for my piano 8th grade exam which is set for around May next year, which I need to take into consideration.
I would really like some advice in what to do.

 

[rumbleroar]

14 units in year 12 is way too much
13 is too

You're going to be doing 2 majors (SAC and Hist ext) if you pick it up. That can be extremely challenging because its due around the same time and you'll need to put continuous effort into both. A lot of my friends that did history extension ended up dropping it. :/

tbh, for English extension the only time I really do stuff for it is prior to the assessments. Depending on your module, you don't get as much readings as you do in year 11 (I remember getting 1 a week omfg) and in year 12 we don't get that many (only 2-3 for each text we do) and people doing both seem to be sane enough, so I'm going to assume, just as long as you consistently work on things, you should be alright doing ext 1 + hist ext

I think you need to really decide whether or not you want to do it because imo, you don't want to waste spare time doing an extra unit you're going to drop. It can get stressful and be a futile venture.

imo drop the subject thats the most time consuming or the one you like the least if you're looking to pick up another extension

 

[D94]

14 units in year 12 is way too much
13 is too

You're going to be doing 2 majors (SAC and Hist ext) if you pick it up. That can be extremely challenging because its due around the same time and you'll need to put continuous effort into both. A lot of my friends that did history extension ended up dropping it. :/

There's no major work in History Extension. It's traditionally a heavily weighted assessment task. It can be due at any time - before the trials, after the trials, in term 1 etc; just like any other assessment task that you would do at school.

Even if a student achieves 100% in the "History Project", they still need to do well in the HSC exam (i.e. which is exam essay writing).

 

[D94]

Will it be too much too much to pick up history extension as a 14th unit? Try it for a term and a bit and then drop sometime in term 1 next year?

The problem with doing this is you either commit to it or you don't, because you are expected to start researching for the History Project from when you are given the task - you will be required to keep a log book of your research. You might be spending 3-4 hours in a week on a subject that you're not sure about - research + case study readings. Having said that, I thought it was one of the more interesting and thought provoking subjects that was akin to university subjects - you would do your readings, go into class and have a discussion (like tutorials at uni) and have a research task.

 

[sweetalmond]

i was considering law as a possible course to study after school so I thought history extension would help. I was told that history extension is useful in developing argumentative skills, critical thinking, writing. And that is the reason why I am considering choosing it a long with the fact that I like history and discussing philosophy, post-modernism, feminism etc. the set topic is elizabeth I.

So for History extension in my school the major project is due around week 7 of term 2 around end of may to mid June and according to my teacher they start as early as possible in the first term of year 12. Do you get a lot of time in class to do it though? Is the major work worth 40/ 50 marks in the final assessment mark or your final hsc mark for the subject.
And is the major work a bit like the ancient history historical investigation in year 11 where you choose a topic and do extensive research. Obviously, as it is extension and a major work I'm guessing it requires more work and dedication.

 

[strawberrye]

i was considering law as a possible course to study after school so I thought history extension would help. I was told that history extension is useful in developing argumentative skills, critical thinking, writing. And that is the reason why I am considering choosing it a long with the fact that I like history and discussing philosophy, post-modernism, feminism etc. the set topic is elizabeth I.

So for History extension in my school the major project is due around week 7 of term 2 around end of may to mid June and according to my teacher they start as early as possible in the first term of year 12. Do you get a lot of time in class to do it though? Is the major work worth 40/ 50 marks in the final assessment mark or your final hsc mark for the subject.
And is the major work a bit like the ancient history historical investigation in year 11 where you choose a topic and do extensive research. Obviously, as it is extension and a major work I'm guessing it requires more work and dedication.

Don't choose a subject because you think it will help in law, choose subjects that you are good at-because the same argumentative skills could well be developed in participating in extra-curriculars such as debating or being in a leadership position, or even just in English essays. You have to seriously consider it along with doing more than 12 units-yes, it is nice to have backups-but you need to consider the enormous amounts of time you would be putting in in order to achieve a good mark. From what I heard from friends who did this subject, it is a personal investigation on a topic of your choice. As for whether you get a lot of time to do it as well as its worth towards final assessment-I would think it is highly likely to vary across schools-so you are better off asking your history teachers these questions to get a most accurate answer. Interest in a subject has to be balanced with workload for other subjects-at the end, you would want to maximise your ATAR(this would involve having enough time to devote to each subject) to get into the best law course possible (the argumentative skills in law is slightly different from any high school subjects-and you will learn it as you start law, so don't worry too much about this prospect-consider whether you can handle the workload)

 

[D94]

So for History extension in my school the major project is due around week 7 of term 2 around end of may to mid June and according to my teacher they start as early as possible in the first term of year 12. Do you get a lot of time in class to do it though? Is the major work worth 40/ 50 marks in the final assessment mark or your final hsc mark for the subject.
And is the major work a bit like the ancient history historical investigation in year 11 where you choose a topic and do extensive research. Obviously, as it is extension and a major work I'm guessing it requires more work and dedication.

I stress again, there is no "major work" in History Extension. It is just a heavily weighted assessment task that is generally around 40/50 or 80% of your History Extension assessments, not final mark.

Schools run History Extension differently. When I did it, we had 2 mornings for History Extension - one day focused on a general "What is History?" discussion; and the other day focused on the Case Study. There was no time allocated for the project in class - it's a research project, what would you be doing in class?

It is identical to the Ancient/Modern History historical investigation. According to the syllabus, there are 60 indicative hours for History Extension, where 40% is allocated for the project. Therefore, it's expected that you put in at least 24 hours over the entire length of the project.

But to reiterate, it is not a major work like which you would find in English Extension 2 or Visual Arts or Society and Culture etc. It is just an assessment task, just like a Mathematics test or even that Ancient History historical investigation.

 

[rumbleroar]

There's no major work in History Extension. It's traditionally a heavily weighted assessment task. It can be due at any time - before the trials, after the trials, in term 1 etc; just like any other assessment task that you would do at school.

Even if a student achieves 100% in the "History Project", they still need to do well in the HSC exam (i.e. which is exam essay writing).

Really? Isn't it a very long essay?

 

[D94]

Really? Isn't it a very long essay?

True, it is (iirc 2500 words) but it only goes to your assessment mark. You still have a HSC exam which is, in my view, more important.

 

[BLIT2014]

I have a friend who is coping fine with 14 units...
However 14 units does seem a tad to much for most people, however you can always give it a go?

 

[Dachsy]

I'm not sure about other schools, but we didn't have time reserved to do the project in class. I can't give a solid number on the amount of time required for the project as it will be determined by many factors such as the topic you choose, availability of resources, your background knowledge of the topic and how you choose to execute the project. As an inefficient student, I spent copious hours searching for the sources which would be mentioned in my project. (I still feel a bit guilty making assertions about books that I haven't fully read)...So my intangible guess would be that a couple of hours each week would be sufficient. While a 2500 word limit really isn't that much, expect to do a couple of drafts.

I can't represent everyone's experience but I thought that English Extension was more time consuming and daunting in that there were more write-on-the-spot assessments. Tbh I don't think you need that much time studying for the 'What is History?' and the case study. For me, most of the History Extension time was dedicated to the project. We basically watched a lot of videos, had some groupwork/class discussions and ate a lot of food in class actually. History extension was the subject I studied least for and it ironically
was my best subject...But I guess it's just a 1 unit subject.

History extension is an awesome and the 'What is History' essays are quite fun to write. However like what rumbleroar said, 14 units is excessive. Since your project is due in term two (not sure if you mean term 2 for year 12 students or normal students) I think it would be good to compile all your sources and try to get a draft in to be critiqued by the end of the first term to see how you are going. OK enough with my rambling.

 

[edwardf316]

I would say that if your doing 13 units in Year 12 you will struggle to maintain the workload and adding HisExt will not change that. It may only be worth 1 unit but my from my experience it can be as much and sometimes even more work than a normal 2 unit subject and that's not including the project. If you were to pick it up i would strongly suggest dropping SAC because otherwise you will find it impossible to maintain and decent standard of work, especially around your exams.

 

[sweetalmond]

I think for me, extension english is the most time consuming. I mean sometimes I don't do much in the subject, I just have to read a bit. But then other times like now the teacher makes us do five different things: essays, journal etc. at the same time as preparing for an extension eng. oral assessment task. I think that's bordering on insane but you can't not do it. At times it can be stressful. I don't find any of my other subjects too time consuming unless it it near an exam. I think my most time consuming would be French, but I find it useful and maths. Also, I pretty much have no life and study/ do hw all the time (including holidays, weekends, friday nights etc.). I've gotten use to doing work all the time and its mostly paid off for now.

 

[sweetalmond]

Just saying I picked up history extension as a 14th unit. I will obviously have to drop something as i know I can't handle 14 units however I need to do my yearlies and maybe see how things turn out in term 1 before I make a rash decision. Thanks for all your advice. I know history extension will be very difficult but I would at least like to try it out so I don't regret not taking it.

 

[kalstar]

You're gonna get rekt m8

 

[RenegadeMx]

ext history is easy to do decent in, but very hard to get band e4, but overall have fun, was one of my more favourite subjects, you might feel like wtf is this after first few lessons but its normal

 

[samanthaeardley]

History extension is a good choice!
The only problem I can see is the 2 major works being due around the same time, but it'll only be a problem if you make it. For example, I didn't start my history project until 4 days before it was due, I still got 93% (let down by my progress journal... Don't underestimate it ) and I don't meant I started writing the essay 4 days before it was due, I mean I found a topic, designed a question, researched and wrote the essay + all the other crap. So if you pick a good topic with plenty of historians arguing over time about it, and work consistently on it from the day you get it this course will be easy
The project isn't all of it but it's worth a lot. As for the other work, it's ok! You do ancient and modern, you'll be fine, they help so much with the core study. and for the reading section (BLURGH) just make sure you stay on top of the readings from the start, I regret not doing that so much!. Coming from THE laziest person alive, I do nothing towards the subject at all and I'm averaging 96%!?!?! I do NOTHING!
So history's not going to be the problem at all, but 14 units is a lot. So good luck to you ! I hope you're motivated and ready and work your ass off even if it's just to see what you're capable of

 

[memblue]

wait, i do continuers french with open high school too... who is your teacher?
At the moment i am doing 14 units (two of them are accelerated) and i have just picked up history extension, although it seems like alot, with french i am still able to have free periods and catch up with other work. i think you should be fine and you can always drop french when it gets too much (which is what i plan to do)
sorry, i know this is probably so late to reply to but i just saw it when i was looking for how to start my log book
good luck!

 

[sweetalmond]

wait, i do continuers french with open high school too... who is your teacher?
At the moment i am doing 14 units (two of them are accelerated) and i have just picked up history extension, although it seems like alot, with french i am still able to have free periods and catch up with other work. i think you should be fine and you can always drop french when it gets too much (which is what i plan to do)
sorry, i know this is probably so late to reply to but i just saw it when i was looking for how to start my log book
good luck!

No, that's okay. At the moment I have study periods but for French continuers. I think I might drop french to do history extension so I have the freedom in study periods. The great think about OHS is they already load the whole years work on moodle so I can save it to my laptop and teach myself as a hobby, cos I still paid for the materials anyway.
Hows history extension going? Have you got any project ideas?

 

[memblue]

yeah, i am thinking about dropping it as well, i just dont really like it very much and i am so close to the bottom in comparison to all amazing people!

mmmm i am having heaps of problems trying to decide my focus... any suggestions hahah
what about you?
what is your in class study?