Sydney versus UNSW - whats the difference? (1 Viewer)

[erawamai]

I don't think you get it gordo. No uni will officially say it marks to a bell curve. It's just when they mark the marks often look like a Bell curve and when they are irregular (read: stray to far from the bell curve) out comes the good old bell curve.

They aren't bell curved unless there's perceived to be a problem, is what I remember Jenni Millbank saying last year. And by 'a problem', they mean results outside the quotas.

As mentioned by your usyd peer the bell curve comes out when the marks are irregular. Which means they stray far away from what a bell curve would look like.

If Rorix is correct and usyd doesn't use a bell curve isn't it more likely that marks will be higher since the bell curve will not limit the number of D's and HD's the uni gives?

Since the standard of usyd law students is high (with the occasional clear exception) wouldnt it be fair to say that the lack of a bell curve would result in higher marks?

I believe teachers, in general, say that results are not bell curved. But the results, as they fall, just happen pretty much fit a bell curve.

 

[ManlyChief]

I don't think you get it gordo. No uni will officially say it marks to a bell curve. It's just when they mark the marks often look like a Bell curve and when they are irregular (read: stray to far from the bell curve) out comes the good old bell curve.



As mentioned by your usyd peer the bell curve comes out when the marks are irregular. Which means they stray far away from what a bell curve would look like.

If Rorix is correct and usyd doesn't use a bell curve isn't it more likely that marks will be higher since the bell curve will not limit the number of D's and HD's the uni gives?

Since the standard of usyd law students is high (with the occasional clear exception) wouldnt it be fair to say that the lack of a bell curve would result in higher marks?

Howdie all,

As a veteran 3rd year law person at USyd I can say that USyd most certainly does use a bell curve-like approach to the distribution of marks. It goes a little like this:

* The "bell curve" does not include failures
* Of the people who do pass: 2-5% get HDs; 10-15% get Ds and the rest of the people who pass get either a pass or a credit.

Naturally, the Faculty never publishes this as official, because the terms "bell-curve" and "quota" seem all to be interpreted so negatively by students (I do not know why). However, this was the scheme outlined by our teachers in Fed Con and it agrees with my experience of mark distribution in Legal I, Torts, Crim, Contract and Fed Con. I am informed by the folks up at Philip Street that it holds true for Property, Equity etc etc.

 

[phrred]

gordo got shunted