Should they add extension to the specific sciences? (1 Viewer)

[notme123]

They do this in Britain too. For example Extension biology,chem phsycis. Imagine 4unit bio that’s a dream come true

i think they used to under the '3 unit' title (I know for a food tech did) but they were probably unpopular due to staffing constraints. there's not a lot of schools that can afford to have teachers teach classes a small portion of students would sit.

 

[CM_Tutor]

Since at least the 1980s, the highest for an individual science has been 2 units, though there were combined 3 and 4 unit Science courses.

Problems with extension sciences include sufficient student demand, availability of teachers capable of teaching the extended content, and the disinclination to allow students to do more than 4 units of science. If a student did Extension 1 Chemistry, for example, would they still be allowed to do another (2 unit) science? You could end up with students doing 5 units of science and 4 of maths, plus compulsory english, and not studying anything else. That would appeal to some (many?) but might not be the most well-rounded high school education.

 

[Life'sHard]

But can’t I say the same thing about extension maths? Teaching extension maths would require more knowledge than only teaching 2 unit. And if a person studies 4 unit math, that’s already taking 4/10 of their units. If maths can have extension subjects I don’t see why science can’t either?

The demands are just too high for extension maths. All the sweaty asian kids want harder maths. 3u is just too easy in comparison to the chinese syllabus lmao. The kids in asia are nuts. They're doing calculus as an infant at this rate. Bio is kind of a niche subject and if they would have an extension class not many would take it.

 

[jimmysmith560]

Actually, enrolments in HSC Biology significantly outnumber enrolments in HSC Mathematics Extension 1 and Mathematics Extension 2 combined. This year (2021), 11986 students are enrolled in HSC Mathematics Extension 1 and HSC Mathematics Extension 2 (consisting of 8754 students in HSC Mathematics Extension 1 and 3232 students in HSC Mathematics Extension 2), compared to 19028 students enrolled in HSC Biology.

Based on this, I believe Hivaclibtibcharkwa's proposition would be valid. In such a case, the main consideration will become content, i.e. what is the nature of the content to be taught in case "Biology Extension" becomes a reality? Of course, as mentioned above, the availability of teachers capable of teaching the extended content is still an important factor that determines the possibility of an Extension science subject, but in the case of Biology, student demand may not be an obstacle.

 

[specificagent1]

because that would make you too powerful

 

[may22]

I’ll go one step further
@Hivaclibtibcharkwa what if biochemistry was an extension of bio and chem combined (obviously lol), and biophysics an extension of bio and physics (I think this would be less popular though), etc

 

[specificagent1]

Who thinks that psychological science should be a HSC subject? I think we need to increase awareness and knowledge to remove the stigma from this topic

 

[may22]

Yes! Not only should they add extension bio, but add biochem too. I do both bio and chem and this would tremendously help me out. It would be like a chain
Bio helps —> biochem
Chem helps —> biochem
Bio chem helps both —> chem and biology

My subjects would just be 4unit bio, biochem, chem, English, math

Yeah it would, because they all link

 

[vishnay]

Who thinks that psychological science should be a HSC subject? I think we need to increase awareness and knowledge to remove the stigma from this topic

do you mean psychology like what they have over in vic?

 

[specificagent1]

do you mean psychology like what they have over in vic?

ye

 

[vishnay]

ye

wouldn't be a science then it would fall under humanities

 

[specificagent1]

wouldn't be a science then it would fall under humanities

most unis teach their psychology under the school of science

 

[CM_Tutor]

The demands are just too high for extension maths. All the sweaty asian kids want harder maths. 3u is just too easy in comparison to the chinese syllabus lmao. The kids in asia are nuts. They're doing calculus as an infant at this rate. Bio is kind of a niche subject and if they would have an extension class not many would take it.

Ethnic and cultural stereotypes are unhelpful, and potentially offensive. Please don't.

 

[vishnay]

most unis teach their psychology under the school of science

im not gonna debate whether psych is a science or not but at high school i would assume you wouldn't be able to test hypotheses, collect data and conduct experiments on human behaviour

rather u would learn content from a textbook and write essays like u would in a traditional humanities subject

 

[CM_Tutor]

Haha nice find jimmy! The bio extension subjects would just contain more of the stuff for uni, better setting up students for their future bio courses.

Idk if this is true but apparently, uni bio has more multiple choice and less extended response.

I can see the extension bio taking 2 pathways
The content would be either be harder and more in depth version of the 2unif bio. For example we only cover the basics of DNA replication which is an extremely in depth process in its entirety

Or it could just add more university bio content in.

Many first year Uni subjects have considerable weight given to MCQ in assessment as they are easy to mark. Sciences in major universities can have 2000 students in first year, making for a lot of marking.

Bear in mind that extension science courses call for more advanced practical work, too, potentially requiring new equipment, materials. I mean, a 200 MHz NMR would cost $150k, minimum. Fume hoods for handling some more hazardous chemicals. etc...

 

[CM_Tutor]

Yes! Not only should they add extension bio, but add biochem too. I do both bio and chem and this would tremendously help me out. It would be like a chain
Bio helps —> biochem
Chem helps —> biochem
Bio chem helps both —> chem and biology

My subjects would just be 4unit bio, biochem, chem, English, math

Biochemistry is a second year uni subject, and it has both biology and chemistry at first year as prerequisites.

I do know of cases where these have been waived for bio... that is, admitting a student with very strong first year chem into biochem without having studied biology... but never the other way around.

I don't see biochemistry as a subject appearing at HSC, though some biochemical content can be addressed in chemistry or biology or both.

 

[CM_Tutor]

most unis teach their psychology under the school of science

but it is often available in both the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Science. There can be considerable crossover between faculties, depending on degree rules. I have a friend who started out doing a BSc and ended up transferring to arts. He took a BA with one of his two majors being applied maths.

 

[vishnay]

but it is often available in both the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Science. There can be considerable crossover between faculties, depending on degree rules. I have a friend who started out doing a BSc and ended up transferring to arts. He took a BA with one of his two majors being applied maths.

is psych usually considered a science?

 

[CM_Tutor]

is psych usually considered a science?

Psych can be heavy on scientific methods, experiments, statistical analysis, or much less so. It depends on the area and the applications. There are social science perspectives that look like science and ones that look like humanities.

 

[CM_Tutor]

Why can’t they just not include advanced prac work? Maybe they can show video demonstrations of the advanced prac or do simplified versions of them.

They could, though I'd hope that they wouldn't. Science is experimental by its nature. Theory is developed to understand experimental results and observations. A scientist who has studied science from books without ever doing experimental work is about as well-trained for the task of being a scientist as is a pilot who has aced every theory exam for aeronautical engineering but never flown a plane.