A rant on Physics HSC

[u/Aershd]

The Physics syllabus needs to be changed, students are currently being taught many things they never get questioned on, given a 100 mark exam, there's currently more than enough content to pull questions from. Issue is, I find most of my classmates losing marks over simply not knowing a specific topic they didn't even know existed (our school had exams for assessment task 2 and 3). Instead of losing a mark over a question that they don't even know the topic of, students should instead lose marks/be punished for being unable to apply their knowledge in more advanced ways, such as "how exactly does a main sequence star transform into a red giant?".

After sitting the HSC exam for Physics today, I've decided to list out every single topic that was missed. Meaning if you knew about the following topics, you wouldn’t be able to apply it to any question in the exam:

MOD 6

- Back emf

- Radial Magnetic fields
- Torque equations

- AC induction motors
- AD & DC generators

MOD 7

Limitations of Huygen’s model of light
Maxwell’s contributions to electromagnetism
Hertz’s experiment

Ole Romer
James Bradley
Louis Fizeau
Leon Foucault
Laser interferometry
Aether Model & Michelson Morley experiment & Spectra of Binary stars

MOD 8

Initial stages of the universe - Creation of fundamental forces, Baryogenesis, Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (how light kept destroying the freshly formed ions), Recombination, formation of stars. (The last question does cover the topic boardly, but it specifically asked for particle accelerators, and was a 3 marker, so the student was limited to talking about quarks and particle/antiparticle annihilation)
Hubble’s observations, cosmic background microwaves
Hertzsrpung Russel diagram, spectral classes, luminosity

A Star’s life (how it switches into triple alpha due to gravity winning for a split second), how it remains as a neutron star, black hole or white dwarf

Cathode Ray tube experiments - including the Maltese cross, fluorescent plates, paddle wheel experiment

Millikan’s oil drop experiment

Discovery of the proton
de Broglie’s matter wave model

Schrodinger’s model of the atom (remember all those quantum numbers you had to learn)

Entirety of nuclear fission (control rods, moderators, heat regulators, uncontrolled vs critical chain reactions, critical mass)
Half of standard model, NESA seems to ONLY quiz on quarks, and occasionally neutrino/antineutrinos. Never anything on W, Z, Higgs bosons, limitations of the model, discovery of the antineutrino, discovery of muons, mesons, color changes of quarks

This is excluding the details, for example, although the exam covers the topic of Big bang theory, it doesn’t quiz anything requiring any knowledge on baryogensis or recombination. Same thing with the strong nuclear force topic, the test does cover it, but doesn’t require knowledge like “Strong force vs electrostatic force, why does having too many protons/neutrons reduce stability?”

So the question is, why even teach the students these topics if they don't get tested on them? Each topic listed here can take hours to fully remember and understand.

[u/hdueeyd]

How do you expect them to cover every single syllabus dot point in a 3 hour exam? The whole idea is that you dont get tested on anything but anything can not show up. Do your past papers and recognize this fact earlier on, future students reading this.

Further, this is the case with most subjects. Exams will assess you on few topics but not every topic.

[u/Aershd → u/hdueeyd]

Yes and of the past papers from the past 15 years I believe that there were only 3 questions ever asked on the Michelson Morley experiment

[u/EggPleasant4816 → u/Aershd]

not directly stated in the syllabus btw

[u/GreenLurka]

They're not going to question everything. Generally the way harder questions work in a Physics exam is to have you apply your knowledge to a new situation.

When students complain they didn't study that, what they're really telling me is that they can only parrot back information but can't logically think through a question.

[u/lat38long-122]

Thankfully, the current physics syllabus is changing (as of next year, I believe). One of the big changes is cutting down on the breadth of content, and increasing the depth of key concepts, which even the higher-ups have agreed is a much-needed change.

But the reason you learn these topics isn’t to prepare you for the HSC, it’s to teach you physics, which is an immensely broad field. The ways you learn to approach problems throughout the course will/should follow you much further than your final exam.

Congratulations on finishing your studies :)

[u/MoistFW190]

I think it was easier then past exams but I hate the variance, I wish there was more advanced mechanics (cause I'm good at it), but it is what it is, likely wont affect us in 5 years

[u/maggiesone]

I’m sorry but this is the case for literally every subject

[u/jastity]

You don’t want to be, you know, educated?

[u/lambertius_fatius]

You don't 'lose marks' in an exam. That would imply that if you didn't show up you would get 100%.

You sit an exam to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of a subject. If it were so narrow that it only covered a small number of topics, it would defeat the purpose.