R U puting graphs/charts in your essays? (1 Viewer)

[Slush Puppy]

me teacher said that it would be good to put graphs or charts in your HSC essays?

Now i'm confused, would it really make a big dif? and r u putting graphs in urs?

 

[Alex]

I heard putting graphs/charts in your essays can have very large effects, either negative or positive (as their are no automatic stabilisers,,,ah crap eco talk). Anywayz, my teacher said if you used them well you would improve your overall essay alot, but if they were irrelvant or incorrect than you could lose out a fair bit too as valuable time would have been wasted.

 

[Minai]

yeah, as alex said, its good to use them onlyif they have a purpose
like, adding and explaining a lorenz curve is good in a D.O.I.W essay, and a phillips curve is good wen ur talkin bout inflation and unemployment
so if u demonstrating a point, a good diagram wouldnt hurt

 

[sif not 99]

i dont know how much stuff u guys have been tought beyond the syllabus but if you guys have e.g. deflationary and inflationary gaps u should draw a diagram because there are a small minority of markers that wont have heard about certain concepts that arent in the syllabus and a diagram should make it easier for them to get what ur saying

 

[RIZAL]

graphs

Phillip's curves aren't actually in the syllabus but I still use them.

Yeah, use graphs if they fit your argument and MAKE SURE that you use any source material given.

 

[Minai]

Re: graphs

Originally posted by Isaac Reyes
Phillip's curves aren't actually in the syllabus but I still use them.

Yeah, use graph's if they fit your argument and MAKE SURE that you use any source material given.

u dont actually HAVE to use stimulus material in an extended response unless the question specifically says so. Its there for u to use, so it would b beneficial to quote some statistics and trends from it, but dont go overboard by basing your whole arguments on the stimulus (yeh..a bit of an exaggeration, but u kno wat i mean)

 

[Jason]

Tariff graphs too - if you get an essay on protection. They make it so much easier to explain the effects on an economy (Price increased from OP1 to OP2.... etc.). And don't forget exchange rate graphs. But, like everyone else has said - make sure they're relevant. And make sure you refer to it - don't just chuck in a phillips curve (for example) without explaining what it means and why its relevant.

 

[Ducky]

Hey I was wondering if we're allowed to put arrows (this will leade to) and abbreviations like govt and emp and D for demand etc?

coz i heard we can..but then its an essay rite?

 

[Alex]

If you were to use govt than make sure the first time you use it you put what you are trying to abbreviate in brackets next to it, that way the examiners will know what you are going on about.

 

[Bambul]

When I did my HSC exam in 2001 I made use of quite a few graphs. Useful ones to use are:

- Aggregate supply/aggregate demand for micro-reform
- Supply/demand (S/D) for protection/free trade
- S/D for AUD (eg. what effect a change in interest rates has on AUD)
- Phillips curve

I would suggest not using a Keynsian Cross diagram in high school economics (that's the deflationary/inflationary gap one). Not only will you not get an essay question that requires you to produce one (at most you will get one or two multiple choice questions on the multiplier) but you may confuse some of the markers.

And remember: don't be smarter than the marker, even if you're right, you'll likely get marked wrong. Einstein and Keynes were, and they failed physics and economics (respectively) because they understood the subject better than their teachers.

 

[RIZAL]

AMP eco comp

that AMP economics comp was a crock! All the stupid people in my class did well and all the smart people got Credits. What's up with that!?

 

[sif not 99]

dunno whats wrong with your class but the smart ppl did well at my school and the not so smart not so well...

yeah i dunno about the inflationary and deflationary gaps.....do u think the markers dont understand that or something?

 

[Bambul]

Re: Eco Comp

Some people are just good at competitions. Since it is multiple choice there is the luck factor involved. And I wasn't involved in question setting this year so no finger pointing at me please!

As for inflationary/deflationary gaps. It's a 99% chance that you won't get a question about it at all. You might get one about the economy overheating, for example, and then you can talk about contractionary fiscal and monetary policy. But I very much doubt that you will get one in the context of inlfationary/deflationary gap.

 

[Minai]

Ah good, those graphs u mentioned Bambul, I plan on making use of

and...u sound as if u do Commerce Law @ UNSW, and u got close to 100 for economics in the HSC

 

[Bambul]

Close, I don't do law. I am doing a BEc at UNSW. My UAI wasn't high enough to do law, though if I got the chance to transfer I wouldn't take it up (I can't do a double major with a double degree so I would have to drop accounting).

I got 90 in Economics for my HSC. But I did score 40/40 in the economics competiton in year 12 - and now I'm in the organising committee!

 

[kaseita]

wow maad! your a freak
wish I could do that! but I don't know enough stats or current info, which I'll be mainly concentrating on getting before the ecos exam...
did they ask you to join the committee? It sounds like they would!

 

[Bambul]

First they asked me which uni I was going to. When I replied "This one, probably" then they tried to coerce me to join, yes.

It's actually quite a lot of work, much more than I had anticipated. Like sorting all of the answer sheets that come in. And there's always some people who don't follow the instructions and answer in pen instead of pencil. If someone else is sorting them, they will usually throw it in the bin and that person will get a participation. I was more leniant and would fill in an answer sheet for them. The funniest one was done in crayon. That got a laugh from all of us!

 

[kaseita]

hehe that's mad.
I didn't think you guys would look through them all though. Just dump them into some machine and process them.
Maybe that's why its always like half a year before we get something back .

 

[Bambul]

That's what I thought too. I was quite surprised when I found out how it was all done. It's kind of like saugages and laws - you won't want to know how they are made.