Basically, it is divided into three parts
1. Historiography and the Source Book (can be downloaded from the Board of Studies Site)
2. Case Study ( Of a specific historical event or personality...etc etc)
3. Your own Research Major Essay (which, is marked internally, unlike Ee2)
Scaling should not dramatically affect your decision to pick up a subject. This has been discussed in Ragerunner's Guide to Choosing Courses. If you like the subject, work hard and do well, then scaling will sort itself out.
Like a Core Study, the historiography section can be quite dry. I found it Ok, like the reading (lots of it!!) was pretty smooth running.
The Case Study often determines whether a student likes or dislikes Ext Hist IMO. If you are leaning toward Modern History (as in, you study it
), then an ancient-ish topic like the Crusades or Thucydides might not go down so well with you. This goes for the converse as well, with JFK and the Appeasment etc.
Depending on your teacher the major essay can be quite stresssful or a breeze. It requires a proposal (make sure you have a few ideas handy before staring Ext Hist. It's okay if you dont but it's better if you do
), logbook, synopsis, source analysis, alot of reserach and the final essay, of course.
The main thing to keep in mind about Extension History is this: You are NOT studying events or even people (For example, the Assassination of JFK or Elizabeth I), you are, in fact, studying the interpetations and opinions held upon that event or personality. It is all about historiography. It is very different to studying course work history in Yr 7-12. Have a talk to the teacher who is going to teach it (if you can find out that is), take a look at the source book perhaps, and also these links
http://www.boredofstudies.org/community/showthread.php?t=35857&highlight=recommend+extension+history
http://www.boredofstudies.org/community/showthread.php?t=29494&highlight=recommend+extension+history
