doing higher phys 1131 without HSC phys? (1 Viewer)

[Timothy.Siu]

is this a bad idea? what are you peoples thoughts on this because i asked some unsw staff and they said i shudn't do it but the course outline for last year didn't seem too bad. http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/COURSES/FIRST_YEAR/pdf files/Physics1A_syllabus_T12009.pdf

so i'm just asking people who have done phys1121 or phys1131 for their thoughts on the difficulty of this subject and the usefulness of hsc phys.

 

[Dragonmaster262]

I can't comment since I haven't done it but a BOSer called Omium told me that Uni Physics was very different from HSC Physics. He only picked up HSC Physics a month before the HSC (from what he told me) and is majoring Physics in University.

 

[Azamakumar]

is this a bad idea? what are you peoples thoughts on this because i asked some unsw staff and they said i shudn't do it but the course outline for last year didn't seem too bad. http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/COURSES/FIRST_YEAR/pdf files/Physics1A_syllabus_T12009.pdf

so i'm just asking people who have done phys1121 or phys1131 for their thoughts on the difficulty of this subject and the usefulness of hsc phys.

lol tim siu
you got through 4u, imo you'll be fine

people with no clue will drill me for this but the fact of the matter is hsc phys won't give you that much of a leg up
just stay committed and etc etc

 

[annabackwards]

More maths in uni physics than HSC physics by a mile.

You'll ace it, Tim

 

[Timothy.Siu]

thanks guys, on a kinda unrelated note, anyone know nything about scaling for uni?

 

[Azamakumar]

thanks guys, on a kinda unrelated note, anyone know nything about scaling for uni?

to a bell curve, x % get y mark
it gets a bit different with subjects with higher equivalents

at least with maths 1a, I know that only 1 DN goes to 1131, the other 25 or whatever are reserved for the 1141 students. Basically they veto good marks if you get them in a subject that has a higher equiv.

 

[Timothy.Siu]

to a bell curve, x % get y mark
it gets a bit different with subjects with higher equivalents

at least with maths 1a, I know that only 1 DN goes to 1131, the other 25 or whatever are reserved for the 1141 students. Basically they veto good marks if you get them in a subject that has a higher equiv.

so generally, if you want to get a good mark, it would be better to do the higher course right? so its generally better to do higher phys 1a than phys 1a? well anyway thanks a lot.

 

[Azamakumar]

err
its easier to get a higher mark in the higher subject, if that makes sense
at a certain point in the standard one you're effectively just wasting effort.

 

[nottellingu]

to a bell curve, x % get y mark
it gets a bit different with subjects with higher equivalents

at least with maths 1a, I know that only 1 DN goes to 1131, the other 25 or whatever are reserved for the 1141 students. Basically they veto good marks if you get them in a subject that has a higher equiv.

err
its easier to get a higher mark in the higher subject, if that makes sense
at a certain point in the standard one you're effectively just wasting effort.

Are you sure about this?

It doesnt seem right.

 

[Azamakumar]

why not?

 

[ashllis92]

I went to a lecture on info day about the differences between uni and high school and the guy was saying that when a tutor is marking an assignment exam etc... they will only give out the marks deserved and if none deserve a DN they won't give anyone a DN and conversely if 10 ppl deserve they give out 10 DN's... is this not correct? the guy was a politics tutor so would it be different in the arts faculty to the science faculty?

 

[LordPc]

yea, azamakumar i dont know where you are getting ur info from but i think ur off

firstly it doesnt make logical sense, but secondly i took math1131 and my friend took math1141. he is way better than me in maths (since he was my main source of assistance for the 1131 course and he killed me in hsc maths). yet when the marks came out i had better marks in 1131 than he does for 1141.

what you are saying might have some truth, such moving from a mark of 99 to 100 is easier in the higher course, but not for a majority of the course

 

[nottellingu]

Okay what I heard was that the higher math students work through the material at a faster rate and learn some extra things towards the end.
On exam day both sit the same exam except the higher math students will be able to attempt 5 bonus question which will add to their wam?

I need to decide if i want to take higher maths with the TSP soon! :/

 

[Azamakumar]

yet when the marks came out i had better marks in 1131 than he does for 1141.

so? The fact of the matter is that a large proportion of the HDs and Ds are strictly awarded only to 1141 students.

 

[Iruka]

The main reason why you should do MATH1141 is because you learn more. If you're not a maths major or planning to do a substantial amount of maths later, I don't think it is really worth it. There are more Ds and HDs given out for 1141 compared to 1131, but you will have to work for them.

 

[LordPc]

so? The fact of the matter is that a large proportion of the HDs and Ds are strictly awarded only to 1141 students.

dude, that means nothing

people that take higher maths are (and i think im safe to make this generalisation here) very good at maths. furthermore, im sure if you compared the higher students and normals students you would find that the higher students care a lot more about their marks while some normal students would be more than satisfied with a pass.

of course there are going to be way more Ds and HDs in the higher courses which can be directly attributed to the calibre of students that take the course

 

[Azamakumar]

of course there are going to be way more Ds and HDs in the higher courses which can be directly attributed to the calibre of students that take the course

I don't know why this is so hard to grasp. Of course there are going to be smarter students in that course. The general idea is that if they're capable they should be doing the harder work, which is why htere is only a limited opportunity to get good marks from the standard course.

Either way, believe what you want. I've heard it from a senior tutor and the first year director for maths.

 

[Tim035]

A heap of friends and I decided we cbf'd doing higher maths as it wouldn't really be required for any medical science majors, so we did MATH1031.. We all got HDs.

 

[Azamakumar]

Mathematics for Life Sciences - MATH1031


ie not maths 1a you sped

 

[toadstooltown]

I did PHYS1131 in '07 without doing HSC phys and it was okay. The course has changed since I did it, but uni physics is pretty much just maths with applications.

With regards to scaling - don't even bother thinking about it. If you work hard and do well, you'll get a good mark regardless of how big the course is. For big subjects the director of the subject will decide what to do. There's pretty much no standard system. Occasionally heads of subjects might get asked to explain why so many people failed or so many people got HDs.