Parents of Hardworking Teens Podcast

Episode 129: Brutal Study Truth #3: Unique is Not Better

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Ep. 129

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Unique is not necessarily better.
In fact often, it can be worse. If it means that it’s more tricky to meet the criteria or find the information needed.

Unique is not considered as more clever by marking criteria.

And yes, I’m even talking in creative tasks.

Yes, something like an artwork or an artistic performance may do better if it has some originality or unique ideas.

BUT - and this is a big but - only if it meets all of the other criteria as well.

→ Get Brutal Study Truth #1 (More is NOT More) at: https://www.rocksolidstudy.com/127

and Brutal Study Truth #2 (Markers Don't Care) at: https://www.rocksolidstudy.com/128

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Visual Art grade descriptors: WACE SCSA Visual Art grade descriptors
(See extract in transcript below.)
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TRANSCRIPT:

You’re listening to The Parents of Hardworking Teens Podcast, episode 129 - The third of 3 brutal study truths that could be catching out your teen, meaning they end up working harder than they need to, missing out on marks they could be getting or just finding study, exams and assessment more stressful, uncertain or frustrating than it needs to be.

So let’s dive into Brutal Study Truth Number 3: Unique is not better.

Hey Very Important Parents and carers! I hope you and your teens are doing great and you are enjoying a wonderful Easter break.
Is there anything better than the snap and taste of that thin chocolate that only comes with an easter egg? I don’t think so.

Chocolate is my absolute biggest weakness - that and bakewell tart - I’m such a sweet tooth.

Now, if you haven’t previously caught Brutal Study Truth, number 1: More is not more or Number 2 - Markers don’t care, then you can go catch those straight after this. Because these truths don’t have to be in order, but you definitely do need to know all 3. Because these are subtle issues that I know from experience, not many students are aware of. And when that happens, I see so many students essentially working against your teen and that is a recipe for wasted, time, wasted effort, and potentially - disappointing results.

So - Brutal Study Truth number 3.
Unique is not better.

Choosing or producing something unusual, or that no-one else is doing does not necessarily mean better marks or higher results. In fact often, it can be worse. It can mean a task takes twice as long as it should because it can be more tricky to find the information needed or be more challenging to meet the criteria. Because unique is not considered as more clever by marking criteria.
In fact, it almost never even appears on the success criteria at all.

-EVEN in creative tasks.

Now, yes, something like an artwork or an artistic performance may do better if it has some originality or unique ideas.

BUT and this is a big but - only if it meets all of the other criteria as well.

For example, the difference between an A and B grade in the SACE syllabus for Visual Art, one of the Y12 grade descriptors says:

Produces artworks showing highly proficient communication of sophisticated and inventive ideas. For an A. And Produces artworks showing proficient communication of clear and well developed ideas For a B.

Now, given that as markers we move up through each level of the descriptors, if the student doesn’t have proficient communication of clear and well developed ideas - in that they haven’t clearly linked to the theme or used appropriate techniques, then they can’t achieve the B grade, let alone the A. No matter how sophisticated or inventive their ideas. Plus, that is just one of 4 descriptors for producing artworks. The others have nothing to do with inventive or unique ideas. And there are another 4 that are all about analysing artworks that again, do not require creativity, uniqueness or inventiveness.

You can see them for yourself. I’ll screenshot it and include it in the transcript.
Just go to www.rocksolidstudy.com/129 to find it.

Source: WACE Visual Art Y12 Grade Descriptors
https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/1092056/Visual-Arts-ATAR-Year-12-Syllabus-for-teaching-from-January-2024_pdf.PDF#page=23

That means a unique piece of art will still score worse than something more let’s say mainstream if the unique piece does not align to the format or genre or theme or stimulus as well as the mainstream one. If it doesn’t meet the focus and requirements of the assessment. If it is not performed or executed at the same quality. If the reflection or analysis or justification of the moves or techniques is not to the same standard. But of course it’s totally understandable and easy to understand why, in a subject like Visual Art, a student might be putting a lot more importance on trying to be creative or inventive or coming up with something unique.

I coached Shwetha a while back - you might’ve seen Shwetha on a case study video from the 10WGT or Next Level. She was trying to decide which mineral to investigate for her Science report. It was a totally free choice and she felt like she should do one that no-one else was doing.

That was not a good criteria to choose by. The mineral might’ve ended up being a perfectly good choice. But that reasoning was NOT.

This is why, when there is any option of choice for a task, and a student has already decided or has an idea about what they’re going to choose, I always ask them why they chose that. And of course, you can do that too as a parent if you’re trying to support your teen.

If their reason is linked to the task or mark scheme requirements then that’s a good reason. For example, if they say something like - well I need to be able to show this, or this is a great example of this thing that I need to include, then that’s a good reason. Likewise, if they say there’s plenty of quality research and information available, from a variety of reliable sources. That is also a good reason.

If it’s because of anything else - like I’m interested in it, or it sounds fun, or I already know a lot about it, then it might be a good choice - but we need to figure that out for sure, by checking against the task requirements and mark scheme demands first. Because - There are no bonus marks on a mark scheme for choosing the one that no-one else is doing.

There is no success criteria that is about how unusual the topic is.

You can actually watch the clip of me going through this with Shwetha and me sharing this brutal study truth with her - I’ll paste that into the web page of this episode for you as well.
www.rocksolidstudy.com/129

So - I’m not saying definitely don’t choose the most unusual or unique. Just make sure it checks all the boxes that are important to how it’s going to be completed and what’s required for success. Will that topic allow you to reach the criteria you’re aiming for? If it does check those boxes, all good. But be sure to check.

And don’t be afraid to do something more simple or less unique. You cannot be marked down for that, unless you produce a simple and basic response.

Yes, you might want your response to stand out to the marker, but I can tell you as a marker, who has sometimes marked over a thousand papers in a round of marking, a fantastic response will stand out just as much as an unusual topic.
Because, well, while I’m being brutal here, getting a high quality yet concise, sophisticated yet succinct response, that absolutely nails the criteria, is unusual. And to me - very exciting.

So - I’d love to know if your teen has fallen victim to any of these 3 brutal study truths. Have they seen the difference it makes when they know any of them and can adjust accordingly?

Drop me an email at support@rocksolidstudy.com to let me know and I’ll be sure to respond personally.

I love to hear from parents and students about their real life experiences as it helps me to provide the most relevant and useful information and insights to you.

So, I hope this little mini series has been helpful. If you know any other parents who might also find this kind of information and insight helpful then take a screenshot and send it to them. I love when I get a great podcast recommendation.

I’ll see you back here next week, and in the mean time, have a brilliant rest of your week - and a fantastic Easter break!

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