biology: 2012 senior external examination assessment …€¦ · 2012 senior external examination...

Biology 2012 Senior External Examination — Assessment report

Statistics

Year Number of candidates

Level of achievement

VHA HA SA LA VLA

2012 31 9 7 6 8 1

2011 43 2 14 14 12 1

2010 40 1 3 20 13 3

2009 55 1 16 27 10 1

2008 51 3 24 19 4 1

General comments Candidates generally performed well overall. Many responses showed an improvement in depth and scope and in basic biological knowledge compared to previous years. A range of discriminating questions provided opportunities for candidates to demonstrate their knowledge and higher-order thinking skills. There were only a few questions which some candidates did not respond to, indicating candidates overall were more confident in their ability to respond than in previous years.

Legibility impacted on the ability of some candidates to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding.

Understanding biology (UB) The Understanding biology questions required candidates to demonstrate their understanding of the basic principles of biology in both simple and applied situations. Most candidates were able to provide evidence of a solid grounding in basic biological principles. While candidates seem to be taking more time to read and understand the questions, more attention could be spent on using the spaces available as a guide to how detailed responses should be. Care also needs to be taken to ensure that responses actually match the questions. Some responses contained excessive and superfluous information.

It is important that candidates have a comprehensive basic knowledge of the entire syllabus to enable them to demonstrate their understanding.

Investigating biology Interpreting data in a variety of formats and evaluating the design of investigations is a requirement of the syllabus. Overall, responses demonstrated that candidates had been involved

2 | Biology 2012 Senior External Examination — Assessment report

in carrying out experiments and designing investigations to some degree. Some candidates chose not to respond to most of the questions in this criterion, adversely affecting their overall level of achievement.

Many candidates were unable to develop a justifiable researchable question with any consistency or confidence. Some responses were simply descriptions of experiments completed in class under guided conditions with little or no obvious application of the candidate’s own skills.

Candidates require a sound understanding of biology to enable them to question the natural world’s phenomena using investigations and experiments. It is very important that candidates not only satisfy the requirements of the syllabus to undertake and understand experiments, but are exposed to this manner of learning as an integral component of their study of biology. Teaching centres should continue to develop and deliver a pedagogy that reflects investigative methods that teach candidates about biological theories as well as design procedures.

Evaluating biological issues Overall, responses to the Evaluating biological issues questions were good. Many candidates included evidence of comprehensive research carried out on topics provided prior to the examination. Some responses, while showing a basic understanding of the topic, lacked an explanation of the biology underlying the issue.

Sample solutions Sample solutions/responses for 2012 are printed on the following pages to help teachers and candidates prepare for future Biology examinations.

Queensland Studies Authority February 2013 | 3

Paper One


Paper Two

biology: 2012 senior external examination assessment …€¦ · 2012 senior external examination...

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