Today we will take a look at the Syllabus and past HSC questions. We want to really identify how questions are asked. The idea of the video is not to predict future questions but rather understand the types of questions that may be asked and how the board of studies has implemented the glossary of terms.
We need to first acknowledge that all the questions you are about to see are the property of the Board of Studies and are only being used for educational purposes.
We would hope that teachers can use this video in one of a couple of ways. To showcase the different types of questions that might be asked and also to provide students with practise questions to receive feedback. If you are a student, feel free to pause the video throughout and utilise the past HSC questions to practise. Don’t forget your teachers love receiving all these extra questions to mark…
Let’s start with the glossary of terms.
Knowing the glossary of key terms is fundamental. It is really a guide for you as a student to help structure your answers as well as knowing how much depth to go into in each question. You can find a list of the glossary of terms on the Board of studies website or you could review your syllabus and look at the learn to columns to see what glossary terms are used.
So for this video we have broken apart the Core 2 syllabus dot point by dot point to show you every question that has been asked in the HSC since 2010.
Let’s start by looking at the Energy systems Dot point. There has only been one question over the past 7 years – which is very interesting. Knowing subject specific terminology would benefit this dot point and answering questions.
If we move onto types of training, you can see again there is a move away from traditional glossary terms. The use of HOW and WHAT are seen in past questions asked. You can see that based on the questions asked previously that there is not one focus area and that all areas in the learn about column need to be understood and covered. The most recent question – How can flexibility improve performance comes almost straight from the last dash point in the learn to column ….. Just something to be aware of.
Again, despite the principles of training dot point being quite large — and you as a student being asked to analyse — they are applied to aerobic and resistance training, there has been a lack of questioning in this area. I would think that your understanding of this content could particularly help you answer other areas of the syllabus. This dot point may also pop up regularly in multiple choice questions.
The next dot point physiological adaptations has seen questions that are asked in relation to specific types of training. And looking at the motivation dot point, again, knowing the different types and examples has been enough previously. You would still be expected to be able to apply the correct type of motivation to the appropriate sports.
The anxiety and arousal dot point has seen a question asked that specifically relates to the learn to dot point. Whilst the Psychological strategies to enhance motivation dot point has been seen to be a dot point that attracts a greater allocation of marks.
The nutritional considerations dot point past questions come straight from the dot point. Again this emphasises the need to know and understand the syllabus.
The supplementation dot point sees questions focusing on a range of dash points whilst drawing on the learn to area to ask for specific information that you need to respond to. The recovery strategies dot point has attracted a large mark question previously.
Skill acquisition has been a common area of questioning where they have focused on outline as the glossary of terms. Whilst the characteristics of the learner dot point follows the syllabus very closely.
The learning environment has only attracted one previous 8 mark question despite a lot of content in this dot point. And finally the last dot point on assessment of skill and performance has been common. It has seen a number of high mark questions. There is a lot of specific content to learn and understand so care must be taken when studying this dot point.
Overall you can see that there is real value in understanding your syllabus.
Remember, this video is not designed for you to guess or predict where questions will come from. We just think it would be smart to take a look at how the questions are asked and give us an opportunity to practise answering HSC exam type questions. Remember there is great value in practising past questions and submitting for feedback. Just like in sport, where as athletes, we want to practise with the right technique and get constructive feedback so we can improve — this is the same. You need to make sure any feedback that is given to you, you take on board and think “how can I improve?” – even if it is just by one mark.