Investigating Science · Stage 6

Communication and Evaluation

Reporting, representing data honestly, and evaluating claims made by others.

Dot points
7
Module
3 of 4
Course
Investigating Science
01What this module asks of you

The 7 syllabus dot points in Communication and Evaluation

These are the statements the Investigating Science syllabus makes about Communication and Evaluation. Dux records each one against the questions you answer, so you can see which of them you have actually been tested on and which have never been asked.

  1. 01

    Scientific Communication and Reporting

    Writing a report with method, results and discussion in the form a reader expects.

  2. 02

    Representing Data Honestly

    Choosing a graph, axis and scale that do not overstate the result.

  3. 03

    Drawing Conclusions

    Stating only what the data support, and naming what further work would settle.

  4. 04

    Evaluating Secondary Sources

    Assessing provenance, method and interest in a report written by someone else.

  5. 05

    Science Communication to the Public

    Explaining uncertainty without either overstating or obscuring a finding.

  6. 06

    Recognising Pseudoscience

    The features that distinguish a scientific claim from one that only borrows its vocabulary.

  7. 07

    Collaboration and Reproducibility

    Why replication matters, and the practices that make a result reproducible.

02How it is examined

What a Communication and Evaluation question asks you to do

HSC Investigating Science - Examination Shape is 100 marks in 180 minutes. Questions on Communication and Evaluation are not one shape repeated: the command word decides what the marker is looking for, and the mark value decides how much of it. These are the ones Investigating Science uses.

analyse3–5assess3–5design3–6develop3–5discuss3–5evaluate3–6evaluate8–10explain2–5identify1interpret1judge3–5solve3–5

Dux writes practice for this module in exactly these shapes, so the drill is the same task the paper sets — not a general knowledge quiz with the module name on it.

03Where this module sits

Communication and Evaluation in the Investigating Science course

Communication and Evaluation is module 3 of 4 in Investigating Science. Students routinely lose marks because a question spans two modules, so the neighbouring modules are worth reading next to this one.

Find the Communication and Evaluation dot points you have never been asked

Dux diagnoses Investigating Science dot point by dot point, then writes questions in the shape this course marks. Written answers come back marked against the bands.