(ENTER, stage LEFT, ALPHATANGO, carrying a large sign marked "University Intruder")
Returning to the *original* subject of this post...*sends general poke in the direction of jessum*...I'm still coming back during the holidays, so let me know if/when you want to organise something.
Incidentally, hi everyone!
At least a couple of you should know who this is...hope the half-yearlies aren't hitting you too hard. I'm sort of torn between laughing at you and sympathising with you... j/k
OK, here we go...acceleration, views thereupon, replies to previous posts...*deep breath*:
(*another deep breath following the completion of point 12* Here's a quick guide for ppl who don't want to read the whole thing...and I don't blame you...1-8 are replies to previous posts, 9-11 contains *some*...not even a majority...of what I have to say on acceleration, including some of my own experiences. Economics students may like to look at the side note at the end, just after point 11.)
1. kimmeh: Being one (or two, or three) year(s) younger than other HSC students in the class is not a "disadvantage", it's simply a characteristic of the person's HSC program. True, you can make some links with other subjects (particularly between maths and physics, and between a lot of humanities subjects), but this isn't really a huge problem, especially with the way the Board has modified the syllabi.
2. Still on kimmeh's post: Accelerants don't have to be all that *much* more conscientious, although obviously they get better marks if they are (and if they're enthusiastic enough to go out and find extra information to gain a better understanding of the subject...great!).
In fact, some Yr 11 teachers will be nice and organise Yr 11 work so that it fits around your Yr 12 schedule in terms of assessments and things like that. OK, I admit, it only ever happened once to me, and I think it was by accident, but still...
3. glycerine: You're right in the sense that there's no point in accelerating if you're only mediocre or slightly above average in a subject. There are many different reasons for accelerating, including:
-- boredom with standard subjects, since the material has been covered before outside school
-- interest and ability in a range of subjects, where it might not be possible to complete all of them under standard conditions
-- to keep pace with other subjects, again where the person has sufficient ability in the area/s
To make the last one clear, let me give an example: my ability in HSC English is/was not spectacular, but it was lagging behind the other subjects by a couple of years, so it was pushed up a year (ended up doing 2/3/4U). Would I have made a better mark than my band 5 result if I had waited? Probably. Would I still choose to accelerate in English, given the same decision? Definitely. See...somewhere later in this post.
4. The decision to repeat a subject is not a decision to be taken lightly. Each person will make the decision based on what *they* want out of the HSC. If the desired result is a higher UAI, then by all means repeat (though, as mentioned, that's not the *point* of acceleration, I guess it's a semi-valid thing to do, to deliberately accelerate with the intention of repeating).
5. fashionista: Depends on who's offering.
I'm not asking you to be very cynical (or even moderately cynical), but do remember that your best interests may not be the only thing influencing the teacher/principal/school. It's often quite good for publicity, annual reports and the like to have students accelerated, for example. In addition to that, *you* (and possibly your parents) are the only person who knows whether your personality fits in with the idea of acceleration, whether you have the motivation, whether or not it's a good idea. Make your own decision!
Incidentally, the influence of teachers, etc. can also go the other way when applied to students who are already accelerated. These students are sometimes asked to repeat a Yr 11 subject that they've accelerated in, or to drop back to their cohort year. Often, this is because the relevant staff member doesn't think they're going to get a good mark (i.e. >90)...and the number the school would most like to see increase is the number of students on the HSC Honour Roll at the end of the year (as well as high UAIs and the like). Under these circumstances, they *can* force you to drop back, technically, but it's usually up to you (although they'll try to influence you). Again, make your own decision (but be honest with yourself)!
6. jessum, Josie: General policy with our English dept. previously was to *never* accelerate students in English (except for a few special cases, usually ppl who were fully accelerated). After they let me do Yr 10 English in 2001, I seemed to notice a few more English accelerants starting to pop up...I was informed by an unreliable source that it was an experiment by the English dept. *shrug* Maybe they want to go back to their old policy...*pokes them either way*
7. angy_elic: OK, point taken, but your post seems to over-emphasise the factor of age when it comes to acceleration. Age, in fact, shouldn't *be* a factor, although teachers often "take it into account" when considering acceleration. Maturity, on the other hand (as per your post), *is* a factor. In some cases, accelerants fit in really well with people above their age, especially for those who can discuss at that sort of level. Obviously, there are lots of changes between one year and the next during the high school years, but an accelerant should be able to think about those rationally and logically (and behave/respond accordingly). I think this comes back to making a decision that's right for you, rather than bowing to pressure from anyone who doesn't really have your interests in mind.
Interlude: Just checked the message length, am glad to see that the limit allowed is 60000 characters.
8. In response to all the equations posted (although it doesn't really involve acceleration, it's loosely related):
{- [ (h-bar)^2 ] / 2m } * {(d^2 (psi))/d (x^2)} + V * (psi) = [i * (h-bar] * {d (psi) / d (t)} (all derivatives are partial)
(Just doing a quantum mechanics assignment atm, was distracted by *someone* into reading this thread, and figured I might as well vent some quantum-mechanical anger here
)
9. So...having replied to all those posts, here are some more comments on acceleration. Firstly, each person has their own goal. Particularly for those who are going on to uni, remember that the HSC is Not Everything (tm). In fact, by the time you get to second-year subjects, most lecturers will be far more interested in what you did in first year than your 99+ UAI. (Some lecturers won't even care what you did in high school -- I speak from experience now *sigh*.) Decide what you want, and go for it (but be flexible at the same time!).
In my case, I wasn't really that concerned about my UAI. For me, the point was always to get into uni to concentrate on maths and physics, and there wasn't too much difficulty in that. If I wanted to achieve a higher UAI, I would have repeated some of my subjects and/or dropped back a year or more on some of the accelerated subjects. In the end, I did 18 units over 3 years, without spectacular marks, but which allowed me to finish a year early, as well as get experience in a broader range of subjects. For example, without acceleration, I would probably have done 4U maths, 4U English, physics, chemistry. Instead, I also managed to fit in things like economics (which I really enjoyed) and biology. In retrospect, acceleration was definitely the right decision...for me.
10. There are some advantages to acceleration: often, you get more free time, the chance to spread the HSC load, the opportunity to start some uni courses, the chance to mix with other people, and so on. One of the biggest advantages is *experiencing* the HSC, and knowing what to expect for all your remaining subjects. In particular, the atmosphere of the exam is important, and it's a *big* advantage, psychologically, to know what it's going to be like beforehand...the desks, the student number card, the formal warning, the glares of the supervisors as you turn your head to cough, the movement of restless ppl in the last 15 mins who want to leave but can't....even something as simple as the writing booklets, with the precisely spaced lines and the blank page on every left-hand side.
11. There are disadvantages too: some accelerants end up with *less* spare time, and in some cases, accelerants tend to lose touch with their cohort year (personal experience again). You're required to be in a class where you often don't know anyone, and where the general discussions going on around you have nothing to do with your life or the lives of people you know.
Side note: When it comes to stress and spreading the HSC load, consider the following equation (economics students will be familiar with the form):
S = S_0 + sW
where
-- S is total stress
-- S_0 is autonomous stress associated with doing a HSC exam (that is, whether you do one, two or ten HSC exams, you will experience S_0 amount of stress)
-- s is the marginal propensity to stress
-- W is the amount of work (perhaps measured in number of HSC units being completed)
Yes, I came up with this, yes, it is meant to be a light-hearted poke at the equations studied for economics, no, it is probably not an accurate representation, and no, I'm not going to explain it any more. If you get it, you get it. If you don't, just put it down to my usual insanity.
12. It's 0100. I have a quantum mechanics assignment to do. So much more to say, and absolutely *no* time in which to say it...maybe I'll post again later with more. For anyone who's actually read the whole thing...wow...*I* wouldn't want to read all of it. To everyone who's read some of this: I hope you got something out of it, one way or another.
If anyone is sufficiently angered by my words (or formatting, or other stylistic matters), please feel free to print out these words (according to Word, about 1800 of them, in some 10000 characters) in size 72 font, Times New Roman (or Wingdings, if you're feeling *really* angry), and feed into a shredder, one page at a time. However, do the right thing, remember to recycle!
*dives back into QM assignment*
Take care all,
AT.
(EXIT ALPHATANGO, stage RIGHT, with large sign)
