HSC PDHPE: Cracking open those exam questions

What are they asking you and what do they want to hear? (Well,read…)

The idea behind exams is to see how much you’ve learnt in agiven subject. Crazy, right? When you’re answering your HSC exam questions, it’shelpful to know why you’re being asked a certain question as well as what you’reactually being asked. So when you look down at those bolded words on the paper,crack them open.

First, find the question inside the question

This is easier than it sounds (well, reads…). Basically you’relooking for the word or words that make the sentence you’re reading a question.“are you going?” is different to “Where are you going?” or “Whyare you going?” In the same way, you might be asked to argue or discussor explain, and it’s important to know what each one means.

Connect the question to the syllabus

Most of the time the question will have some keywords thatcome from the PDHPE syllabus, which will give you a clue as to what sorts ofinformation you need to include in your answer. Obviously this means you needto be familiar with the contents of the syllabus…luckily you can download a copy here, if you don’t already have one. There,you should be able to figure out which elements you’ve been focusing on inclass all year.

Have another read of the question

Before you dive in, go over the question again to make sureyou’ve got the right end of the stick. There’s nothing worse than writing out agold response then realising you misread a word. Figure out what you’re beingasked, which information is relevant and how you’re going to answer. Then getscribbling!