Mark schemes being wrong
Hi guys,
So I have noticed that some mark scheme answers are totally incorrect or at least omit other possible answers.
For example, I looked at one of the biology papers where they asked for the advantages and disadvantages of questionnaires. Because I also study psychology and know the in-depth stengths and weaknesses of methodology half of the possible answers in the mark scheme were omitted and as a result I lost out on a mark even though my answer was correct.
This is absolutely preposterous and I have no idea what to do in this case.
I was wondering if anyone knows what to do?
So I have noticed that some mark scheme answers are totally incorrect or at least omit other possible answers.
For example, I looked at one of the biology papers where they asked for the advantages and disadvantages of questionnaires. Because I also study psychology and know the in-depth stengths and weaknesses of methodology half of the possible answers in the mark scheme were omitted and as a result I lost out on a mark even though my answer was correct.
This is absolutely preposterous and I have no idea what to do in this case.
I was wondering if anyone knows what to do?
Original post by AlexKay99
x
The mark schemes are not wrong; what makes you think you know better than the senior academics and examiners who write the papers? It doesn't matter what you've learned in psychology; in a biology exam you are being assessed on the biology syallabus, and if that syllabus doesn't contain something you've learned in psychology, you can't use it.
Original post by Pectorac
in a biology exam you are being assessed on the biology syallabus, and if that syllabus doesn't contain something you've learned in psychology, you can't use it.
Not saying OP is correct, but... so if something goes beyond the syllabus, it's automatically wrong even if it's right?
Original post by Elcano
Not saying OP is correct, but... so if something goes beyond the syllabus, it's automatically wrong even if it's right?
The examiners usually don't actually know anything above the syallbus, so they can't credit it. More academic people write the question papers and mark schemes, but the people who actually mark the papers have to stick to the mark scheme and can't use their judgement to deviate from it, because they have to use the marking criteria in front of them. The mark scheme is not going to contain any references to anything beyond the syallbus because there are so many possibilities.
As well as this, in an exam you are being assessed on that sylabus inline with all the other people being assessed on that sylabus. It would not be fair to give marks to somebody who went beyond the syallbus because they could then get a better grade than somebody else who stuck to it, if they answered other questions on the syalbus incorrectly. You are being assessed on what you know about the prescribed topics, not anything else you can throw in to hope to get extra marks.
(edited 9 years ago)
People need to realize that the examination system is flawed and they aren't testing you on your knowledge of biology as a whole subject, they're testing you on how good you are at writing and remembering bull**** useless stuff that is written on their mark schemes / syllabus.
Don't write something that is beyond the syllabus because you think you know better (even if you do), you're just going to be upset.
Having said that I had a discussion about this with my chemistry teacher when I was doing my A levels and she told me that markers of that subject can use their "professional judgement" to add additional correct answers if the situation is suitable, although I'm not sure how true this is.
Don't write something that is beyond the syllabus because you think you know better (even if you do), you're just going to be upset.
Having said that I had a discussion about this with my chemistry teacher when I was doing my A levels and she told me that markers of that subject can use their "professional judgement" to add additional correct answers if the situation is suitable, although I'm not sure how true this is.
Original post by Pectorac
The mark schemes are not wrong; what makes you think you know better than the senior academics and examiners who write the papers? It doesn't matter what you've learned in psychology; in a biology exam you are being assessed on the biology syallabus, and if that syllabus doesn't contain something you've learned in psychology, you can't use it.
Why should I trust such incompetent examiners who missed 52 raw marks in one of my exams? Thankfully after the remark it was returned to its rightful grade but for **** sake..52 is not 5 or 2!
Who do they think they are? Do they sincerely care for me and my future? No. All they want is quick cash or at least to get it over and done with.
After all, aren't we supposed to be learning about true facts, not make belief? Why can't I use a FACT I learned in psychology to a question which is basically a psychology question? They can't set the rules, they can't tell me the Pythogoras theorem is not 'A2+B2=C2' simply because this is 'not maths, its biology'.
Original post by AlexKay99
Why should I trust such incompetent examiners who missed 52 raw marks in one of my exams? Thankfully after the remark it was returned to its rightful grade but for **** sake..52 is not 5 or 2!
Who do they think they are? Do they sincerely care for me and my future? No. All they want is quick cash or at least to get it over and done with.
After all, aren't we supposed to be learning about true facts, not make belief? Why can't I use a FACT I learned in psychology to a question which is basically a psychology question? They can't set the rules, they can't tell me the Pythogoras theorem is not 'A2+B2=C2' simply because this is 'not maths, its biology'.
Who do they think they are? Do they sincerely care for me and my future? No. All they want is quick cash or at least to get it over and done with.
After all, aren't we supposed to be learning about true facts, not make belief? Why can't I use a FACT I learned in psychology to a question which is basically a psychology question? They can't set the rules, they can't tell me the Pythogoras theorem is not 'A2+B2=C2' simply because this is 'not maths, its biology'.
The people who write the syallbus for psychology are different to the people who write the syllabus for biology. It is not practical for all of the different departments for every single subject to go through all of their sylabi to see what crosses over and what you could be credited for when using knowledge from one subject in another subject. The syalbi are there for a reason; use them, they tell you what you need to know and what you can be given marks for.
You cannot expect an examiner who may only mark biology papers to be familiar with the content and mark schemes for psychology and what could be applied; how are they going to know?
Original post by Pectorac
The people who write the syallbus for psychology are different to the people who write the syllabus for biology. It is not practical for all of the different departments for every single subject to go through all of their sylabi to see what crosses over and what you could be credited for when using knowledge from one subject in another subject. The syalbi are there for a reason; use them, they tell you what you need to know and what you can be given marks for.
You cannot expect an examiner who may only mark biology papers to be familiar with the content and mark schemes for psychology and what could be applied; how are they going to know?
You cannot expect an examiner who may only mark biology papers to be familiar with the content and mark schemes for psychology and what could be applied; how are they going to know?
It is the examiners fault then, and the mark schemes do state that if the examiner is in doubt, they should go and consult with a team of specialists. On top of it all, I don't know if you do biology, but the questions are quite vague and they encourage open minded answers because its all about 'independent thought' nowadays so the examiner must be prepared for such answers rather than exact definitions.
Either way, candidates must be 'credited for what they know' (as stated in the mark scheme) and the examiner must make efforts to do so.
Original post by AlexKay99
It is the examiners fault then, and the mark schemes do state that if the examiner is in doubt, they should go and consult with a team of specialists. On top of it all, I don't know if you do biology, but the questions are quite vague and they encourage open minded answers because its all about 'independent thought' nowadays so the examiner must be prepared for such answers rather than exact definitions.
Either way, candidates must be 'credited for what they know' (as stated in the mark scheme) and the examiner must make efforts to do so.
Either way, candidates must be 'credited for what they know' (as stated in the mark scheme) and the examiner must make efforts to do so.
Yes I do biology. The examiner is not going to be in doubt; they have no reason to be. If you have written something they don't know about and it's not on the mark scheme, of course they are not going to give you marks for it; doubt is never going to cross their mind.
Candidates are credited for 'what they know' in the sense of in biology there are usually more marking points than marks available for questions, so say for a 6 mark question there could be 12 things which could be awarded a mark each for up to 6 marks. It doesn't mean what you know outside the syallbus; it means a wide range of answers are accepted as long as they are on the syallbus. You cannot expect an examiner who only knows the biology syallbus to approach the psychology examiners if what you've written could sound like it could be from psychology. That's not practical or fair, along with time contraints to mark papers; what if they tried to do this for every student? There wouldn't be the time.
From a fairness perspective, you are being assessed on that syllabus in line with everyone else taking that syallbus. You should not be credited for anything you write outside the syalbus, as it could lead to you getting a higher grade than a student who worked really hard on revising everything in the syablus, and they have done everything they can to get a good mark. You are not being assessed on anything you can throw in from another subject to try and get more marks.
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