Awarding Part Marks? (1 Viewer)

[kpq_sniper017]

I was looking on the Charles Sturt U. HSC website, and I noticed a section about the guidelines that markers have to abide by. From memory there were rules like:
"if the student has made a transcription, or similar error, full marks can still be awarded"
and
"if the student incorrectly labels a questions e.g. part a instead of part b, they can still get full marks.

what exactly are the rules that markers must follow? last year i lost hald a mark in a 2U test for a transcription error. just wondering whether in the hsc, i would or wouldn't have lost that part mark....

im guessing markers have set "criteria", but what happens if your answer if kind of "off the track", but u still gave a reasonable attempt? can u still get part marks?

 

[CM_Tutor]

Originally posted by pcx_demolition017
"if the student has made a transcription, or similar error, full marks can still be awarded"
what exactly are the rules that markers must follow? last year i lost hald a mark in a 2U test for a transcription error. just wondering whether in the hsc, i would or wouldn't have lost that part mark....

Theoretically, a transcription error should not be penalised provided that it does not make the question any easier. Theoretically. Some teachers in trials / assessments might not do this. Anyway, suppose the question was:
Solve x² - x - 1 = 0 for x

If you transcribed it as x² - 1 = 0, you should be penalised - the equation is easier to solve.

If you transcribed it as x² + x - 1 = 0, you should not be penalised - there is no difference in difficulty between the two questions.

If you transcribed it as x² - x - 2 = 0, you should be penalised - the equation is easier to solve.

If you transcribed it as x³ - x - 1 = 0, you should not be penalised - the equation is harder to solve.

im guessing markers have set "criteria", but what happens if your answer if kind of "off the track", but u still gave a reasonable attempt? can u still get part marks?

No doubt there are criteria for HSC marking - these are set by the pilot markers. I don't know what they actually are, though. As for part marks for a reasonable attempt, this should certainly happen.

 

[queenie]

Originally posted by CM_Tutor

As for part marks for a reasonable attempt, this should certainly happen.

nope - they dnt give 1/2 marks in maths

 

[Calculon]

He means 1 mark in a 2 mark question for eg.

 

[CM_Tutor]

Calculon is correct, that is exactly what I meant

 

[iambored]

transcription errors - i always lost marks for those

yes you can get part marks for a reasonable attempt, so write something, anything!

 

[Grey Council]

hehe, you should always write down any answer, even if it is non-sensical, and made up on the spot without ANY attempt to anwer the question.
why?

For example, a question says:
Write down the value of pi to 3 decimal places [2]

That question is worth 2 marks, yup? Well, the criteria JUST MIGHT be one mark for the correct answer, one mark for a number to 3 decimal places.

So if you wrote down ANY number, to 3 decimal places, any number at all, you would get one mark.

As for transcription errors, just make sure you read question carefully. You'll end up GAINING time, rather than losing time, cause if you skim read, then mistakes occur, and if you get time at end to check, you'll waste time doing whole question again. So read carefully.

and hrm, I dunno about getting marks for transcription errors. In my honest opinion, one SHOULDN'T get marks for transcription errors (hope i don't regret saying this, lol). I'm quite sure we in our school don't get marks for em. mmmmm

 

[CM_Tutor]

Originally posted by Grey Council
and hrm, I dunno about getting marks for transcription errors. In my honest opinion, one SHOULDN'T get marks for transcription errors (hope i don't regret saying this, lol). I'm quite sure we in our school don't get marks for em. mmmmm

Hypothetical Situation: 1 mark question - solve for x the equation x² - x - 1 = 0
Answer: x = (1 +/- sqrt(5)) / 2

Someone writes: x² + x - 1 = 0
Answer: x = (-1 +/- sqrt(5)) / 2

Which is more important - punishing the student for making a transcription error that made no difference to the difficulty of the question, or rewarding the fact that they can correctly apply the quadratic formula to solving equations? What is it that a maths exam is aiming to test?

Just something for you to think about...

 

[Grey Council]

lol, fair enough.

But in the hsc, if someone is dumb enough to not even read the question, heheh.

But you raise a valid point. ^_^

 

[kpq_sniper017]

in my prelim. year maths exams, they awarded half marks e.g. 1/2 out of 1.
can they still award half marks in internal assessments? or is the "no half mark rule" applicable to both internal and external assessment marking?

the transcription error i made was replacing a - with a + (i think, maybe it was the other way around) when i was doing simultaneous equations. it didn't make the question any easier though. oh well, was only prelim. not to worry.

actually, does that mean that in the hsc exam, if a question is worth 1 mark, and they get it half right, then they get 0?

 

[turtle_2468]

you can't get most things half right

 

[Affinity]

Not as hard as you think, if it's soemthing between 0 and 1, it must be a half.

 

[CM_Tutor]

Originally posted by pcx_demolition017
can they still award half marks in internal assessments? or is the "no half mark rule" applicable to both internal and external assessment marking?

I think a school can mark internal assessments any way they like, but in my experience half marks in maths is comparatively rare.

 

[elizabethy]

my maths teacher at skool said dat part marks are always provided...so u shud always show working for watever u do.......
n some type of errors are also given marks for!!!

 

[CM_Tutor]

On a related note, if you make a big mistake and have to re do, just cross out with one diagonal line - make sure it can still be read. You can't be penalised for things that are crossed out, but you can get marks for them if there turns out to be something of merit in there.

 

[iambored]

Originally posted by pcx_demolition017
in my prelim. year maths exams, they awarded half marks e.g. 1/2 out of 1.
can they still award half marks in internal assessments? or is the "no half mark rule" applicable to both internal and external assessment marking?

they can do whatever they want in internal. i know a lot of schools dont do 1/2 marks just so the students get used to the hsc style marking.

Originally posted by pcx_demolition017
actually, does that mean that in the hsc exam, if a question is worth 1 mark, and they get it half right, then they get 0?

yep. 1 mark is usually just 1 mark for the correct answer from what i understand. when you get to 2 marks then you need working. but do working for th e1markers just in case, you never know if they'll change their mind