It turned Tuesday’s HSC English exam into a stinking situation for thousands of New South Wales students when they were asked to define smell. This query alone shifted the minds of the 76,000 examinees and became the talk of students, teachers, and education experts across the state.
The question that I consider to be off-topic, and which was included in the first section of the exam, was the following: What role do the descriptions of scents play in an evaluated text? Scent, although it is not a rare element in literary works, the concentration on smell in the HSC English test betterment caused varied reactions from the learners and teachers.
It seems that many students felt frustrated at first when reading the question, some of them even having difficulty linking it with the study materials they expected to work with. However, it was an overblown relief to some as they opined that the unconventional method offered a variety of innovative ways to answer. Since then, the issue of the fairness of the question and its applicability has been taken to various social media where students have been presenting their stand.
The scholars in educational fields have chimed in as well and some have hailed the exam board for proactively laying down the challenge and telling students to think critically and figure out original uses of their skills. Some students have accused the question of being unfair to starudents especially those who seem not to have come across similar themes in their learning systems.
The New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA) has supported this question, saying that it is well within the syllabus goals of presenting and analyzing the works of literature diversely. A representative from NESA reiterated that the format of the examination cannot be a measure by which the students cram knowledge through rote memorization.
Some of the teachers in the state have complained that they are receiving polite negative responses from their students. Some teachers reported that the classes seemed ready to handle other types of questions, while some were worried that focusing on smell could have confused the learners who were anticipating literature-based questions. Thus, talks have emerged regarding a broader English education instruction that will equip the students with the prowess to tackle diverse analytical questions.
The issue has also brought discussions of standard proficiency exams and whether they are helpful in evaluating students ‘real talent. Critics tried to say that such unpredictable questions as this one can have an unfair advantage on students who are doing well in more traditional stills of literary analysis. On the other hand, enthusiasts argue that such questions are useful in determining those exceptional critical thinking abilities from the rest by merely rehearsing to memorize the desired contents.
While educators will be able to breathe easier when the exam is over, questions have now arisen as to how this unexpected question will effect results and specifically university placements. We are using markers to write, paint: Education officials have consoled students and parents that since the question was unconventional, the marking process will factor that and no student will be penalized for their approach.
The incident has led to the improvement appeals for clarification of the process of preparation of examinations and sufficient teaching materials for future HSC candidates. Some teachers are calling for the expansion of the choice of analytical tasks in the English lesson in order to prepare children for adversity in examination periods.
With the end of the school year fast approaching, this kind of twist of the HSC English exam is a reminder of how the institution has changed in and out. The kind of thinking and analysis that this approach asks students and educators to employ may lead the way for future improvements in the way in which testing in this subject is approached. It is unclear what the long-term consequences will be of this year’s examination of English education within New South Wales, but it has, without doubt, served as a useful seismograph for analyzing the aims and objectives of literary analysis as a discipline alongside charting the pedagogical possibilities for its implementation in today’s society.