Should I drop History Extension? (1 Viewer)

[alicm]

Hi guys! Right now I'm taking 11 units and my subjects are: 4u English, Legal Studies, Biology, Modern History and History Extension. I'm really stumped as to whether I should drop History Extension or not though. I want to keep it so I have 11 units and some sort of a "safety net" because Biology is my weakest subject and having History Extension means that only half of my Bio mark would count, however, if I drop it then I won't have as much work which means more time to concentrate on other subjects. Could anyone help me out with my dilemma?

 

[phat_tar]

Hmmm, well you are doing two major works which you may find stressful, and as you have said, eliminate time for other subjects. However, exactly how weak are you at bio, is it only a few marks worse or is there a serious deviation, if it's significant then I'd recommend keep extension. Also, to remove the double major work stress I'd recommend you try complete as much as you can whilst you're still on holidays. From my point of view, I'd recommend you keep 11 units, I believe most students do 11 or 12 units anyway, at least at my school.

 

[alicm]

Hmmm, well you are doing two major works which you may find stressful, and as you have said, eliminate time for other subjects. However, exactly how weak are you at bio, is it only a few marks worse or is there a serious deviation, if it's significant then I'd recommend keep extension. Also, to remove the double major work stress I'd recommend you try complete as much as you can whilst you're still on holidays. From my point of view, I'd recommend you keep 11 units, I believe most students do 11 or 12 units anyway, at least at my school.

For my first assessment I scored 76% in Bio while all my other subjects were 80-100% :/

 

[Frostguard]

Ultimately, if you don’t enjoy the subject, you are most likely not motivated to do well/write study notes/pay attention in class/dread every class you have the subject and generally will not put as much effort into your major project as say 4U English. To be honest a 76% in Biology is not that terrible in comparison to your other subjects, do you absolutely need to drop a subject?
Personally I’d do the 11 units and keep History Extension, because you’re very humanity-based and Hist Ext can help you develop better essay writing skills and time management in your Modern History class as well as Legal, which is also very Essay-based.

Basically drop the subject if you hate it/dislike going to class AND perform badly. It’s a lot of work for a 1-unit subject but I think it’ll help you in your other subjects (partly the reason I chose Hist Ext lol)
Good luck with your decision and I hope al! the best for you!!

 

[D94]

to remove the double major work stress

into your major project

A word of advice. The History Extension History Project is not a major work, unlike in English Extension 2. It is simply a heavily weighted assessment task. The use of 'major' is distracting and misleading. Ultimately it's your examination skills which will dictate your performance in the subject. Mastery of the case studies and understanding 'What is History?' is far more important than doing well in the History Project (but not saying the History Project is not important; all assessments are important). Don't let the History Project distract you from the hundreds of historical perspectives, debates, events etc. that you need to understand and be able to use in your exam. The best students aren't the ones who can construct one essay over 20 weeks. The best students are the ones who can construct two essays over 2 hours. Do keep that in mind.

 

[phat_tar]

A word of advice. The History Extension History Project is not a major work, unlike in English Extension 2.

You do have a good point, but the History Project does count for the majority of course and the issues lies in many students have trouble with these long, major work like projects and having two similar may put on some pressure, again, it all depends on the student. Students who can smash the final exam likely won't have much trouble with the project anyway.

 

[D94]

You do have a good point, but the History Project does count for the majority of course and the issues lies in many students have trouble with these long, major work like projects and having two similar may put on some pressure, again, it all depends on the student. Students who can smash the final exam likely won't have much trouble with the project anyway.

We're not concerned about students who can smash the final exam. We are concerned about students who are worrying about the History Project and thinking they need to spend extra time on the subject and specifically on the History Project.

There may be issues and pressures with long projects, but that's my point, they do not need to worry so much about long projects because ultimately their assessment mark will be moderated by their own and their school's performance in the HSC exam. This is very different to say English Extension 2 where their mark in the Major Work becomes their final mark, so there is significantly more pressure to produce outstanding work.

A cohort that does average in the History Project but well in the HSC exam will do markedly better than a cohort that does well in the History Project but poorly in the HSC exam. This is by design of the HSC system. You might get a lower mark in the History Project, but spending that extra bit of time on the case studies will yield a stronger mark in the HSC exam, which will by design, lead to a higher final mark. If the entire cohort applies the same logic then your school will do very well collectively.

 

[alicm]

A cohort that does average in the History Project but well in the HSC exam will do markedly better than a cohort that does well in the History Project but poorly in the HSC exam. This is by design of the HSC system. You might get a lower mark in the History Project, but spending that extra bit of time on the case studies will yield a stronger mark in the HSC exam, which will by design, lead to a higher final mark. If the entire cohort applies the same logic then your school will do very well collectively.

There are only 4 students (including me) taking History Extension at my school. I would say that I'm in the top with another student whilst the other two are average. Should I be worried about being dragged down if two of the students do not perform well in both the project and HSC exam?

 

[D94]

There are only 4 students (including me) taking History Extension at my school. I would say that I'm in the top with another student whilst the other two are average. Should I be worried about being dragged down if two of the students do not perform well in both the project and HSC exam?

If your school mark is close to 1st, then your moderated assessment mark will reflect that. You will still need to do well in the HSC exam yourself as that will account for half your final mark.

 

[Flop55]

I was in a very similar situation to you and now I've dropped History Extension, based on personal experience I would really recommend dropping to 10 units.