hallooo!! As they say in German... kind of, lol
I finished my first semester of Year 2 about a month ago, and I really wanted to post how I did, but I had to wait until today to get my exam results from one subject, which was Biology.
This was my first semester doing elective subjects, with Biology, History and a "Teaching Science" class centered around science-based lesson plans. I also had another core class, centered around Indigenous Learning, which I felt more competent in. As I slowly saw the marks of my final assessments trickle in, I realised that this was a semester of trial and error. I found out that History may not be my forte, or a particular interest I want to pursue in, but I may think of replacing this with Chemistry, or Indigenous Studies.
Anyway, marks are as follows:
Understanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander- 73 (B). I got a 14/15 on an oral presentation, something I do well in. My main essay was a bit shaky, but I did better than last year, and I felt more confident with my essays and reports
Myth, Legend and History- 69 (C, but close). I admit it, I did not like this subject at all. There was a paper on the Vikings that absolutely crushed me for about a week. 2000 words about why they didn't have horned helmets, wrapped in barely legible Oxford (the ABSOLUTE WORST citation format). My port folio was better, with my assessor saying I had good descriptions and writing style. This is a subject I don't want to continue any further, as it doesn't interest me, and I fear I might eventually fail when I'm too far into it
Teaching Science- 75 (B). I feel horrible about this one. I got high 80s for the first two assignments, and great feedback from my lecturer, who I find really respects and supports me, but I completely messed up the port folio part in the end. I was supposed to use a resource to get lesson plans for a semester-long science program in a Grade 5/6 class, but instead, I made up my own, without using the reference. He said it was a good series of lessons created, however it wasn't applicable to the rubric. It might have been my first A, or even an A+, it just bothers me how I screwed up like this
Biology of Cell and Organism- 76 (B). Overall, good. I really enjoyed the practical classes, and I hope to do more subjects like this in the future. A group presentation was very well graded, especially after being paired up with some who were nervous. My exam score was 70ish, which I was also happy about, being my first uni exam. Hopefully, I can go back to doing classes like that with my newfound friends who are studying pharmaceuticals and biomedicine
Next semester shall be a bit different for me. I'll have a core class of How Humans Learn, a psychology, cognition-based subject, not my strongest area. Teaching Reading, might be a bit odd to learn if I want to teach VCE Science, but I might gain some useful teaching strategies from them. Sport and Skill Analysis should be interesting, if I ever think about teaching P.E. And Culture, Health and Healing is a subject about anthropology. It's a third year elective, and I have no prior background to it... so I don't know what to expect.
You might be wondering why I chose these electives, it's because there isn't really many choices available for me in the second semester, especially third-year subjects that don't have any pre-requisites... I'm nervous, but I know that I'll pull through!
