PDHPE 2020 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• read the question carefully to ensure that they do not miss important components of the question
• have a clear understanding of key words in the question and recognise the intent of the question and its requirements
• use the first page of the answer booklet for an extended response to develop a plan to assist with the logical sequencing of information
• engage with what the question is asking rather than presenting a pre-prepared response
• relate to the question throughout the response rather than just at the beginning
• sustain their judgements, where appropriate, throughout the response with a clear connection to the question
• apply the skills of critical thinking and analysis where appropriate
• use relevant concepts and terms, where appropriate, to support their response
• communicate ideas and information using relevant examples
• present a logical and cohesive response that addresses the question
• review their response to ensure that it addresses question requirements.

Question 21

In better responses, students were able to:

• ensure their outline includes a relevant example of how a growing and ageing population can affect volunteer organisations. For example, a healthy ageing population that is socially active will have more time to be able to volunteer and boost the numbers in organisations. These organisations provide their knowledge and expertise of the administration of surf clubs or collecting donations for organisations such as Convoy for Kids.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating knowledge of the impact of a growing and ageing population
• demonstrating knowledge and understanding of volunteer organisations
• supporting their answer with a relevant example rather than merely naming an organisation or restating the outline. 

Question 22

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify three current leading causes of mortality
• accurately identify the current mortality trends for these causes for males and females.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using current knowledge of leading causes of mortality
• using current knowledge of mortality epidemiological trends.

Question 23(a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify the predominant energy system and correctly list the required features of the energy system for an athlete in a 100m Olympic Final (a).

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating knowledge and understanding of syllabus content including energy systems, source of fuel, duration, cause of fatigue and rate of recovery (a)
• demonstrating knowledge of predominant energy systems used in specific athletic events, for example, 100m Olympic sprint final (a).

Question 23(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• show how anxiety and arousal could have similar or different effects on the athlete’s performance in 100m final (b)
• support their responses with relevant examples (b).

Areas for students to improve include:

• ensuring the key word is addressed and comparing the two concepts.

Question 24

In better responses, students were able to:

• clearly explain how two flexibility training measures improved performance in one sport
• make the relationship between increased range of motion (ROM) and specific improvements in performance clear
• support their response with sport-specific examples, for example, increased Range of Motion (ROM) leading to greater leg speed when striking a ball, creating more momentum and increased length of kicks in a game of Australian Rules Football.

Areas for students to improve include:

• ensuring a focus on how flexibility training measures improve performance is included in their response.

Question 25

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate relevant knowledge in relation to private health insurance
• provide characteristics and features of more than one advantage and one disadvantage of private health insurance for an individual.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating a knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of having private health insurance for the individual
• recognising that more than one example of advantages and disadvantages of private health insurance is necessary.

Question 26

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate knowledge of building healthy public policy
• provide two relevant examples of building healthy public policy in action and how each example has contributed to improving the health of Australians.

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing two relevant examples of building healthy public policy in action
• demonstrating a depth of knowledge of the building  healthy public policy
• providing a judgement of how each example contributes to improving the health of Australians
• supporting judgements with reference to changes in health behaviour and/or  changes in health trends.

Question 27

In better responses, students were able to:

• analyse and demonstrate knowledge of specific types of feedback and how they assist the learner to progress to the subsequent stage of skill acquisition
• ensure a clear relationship between the types of feedback affecting learner’s progression through the stages of skill acquisition and characteristics of learning, for example, how concurrent feedback in the associative stage of skill acquisition assists the development of kinaesthetic sense necessary to move into the autonomous stage
• structure a clear response showing how feedback contributes to a learner’s progression from the cognitive to associative, to and within the autonomous stages of skill acquisition
• use clear, sports specific examples that demonstrated types of feedback in action and how they contributed to the learner’s progression.

Areas for students to improve include:

• making links between the features of feedback types and how they assist the learner to progress through the stages rather than merely describing feedback appropriate to each stage.

Question 28(ai)

In better responses, students were able to:

• correctly identify the leading cause of death for young people as suicide and second leading cause of death as land transport accidents
• correctly identify a trend, for example, that suicide rates are increasing and land transport are decreasing or males have higher death rates than females.

Areas for students to improve include:

• developing their knowledge of leading causes of mortality for young people  
• developing their knowledge of main trends and comparisons of mortality in young people
• providing relevant examples of the current patterns of mortality for young people (ai).

Question 28(aii)

In better responses, students were able to:

• clearly identify a different age group, other than young people, relevant to current health data, for example, those aged 65-74 years old  
• correctly identify and compare the features of key measures of health status, such as mortality, morbidity and life expectancy between the different age groups and young people
• provide relevant examples such as differences in modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors or link causes of morbidity to health risk behaviours such as smoking.

Areas for students to improve include:

• developing their knowledge of current health data relevant to young people and a different age group
• developing their understanding of similarities and differences between young people and a different age group
• ensuring their response explains the similarities and differences in causes of mortality and morbidity between young people and a different age group.

Question 28(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• explain how the specified skills can help young people address relevant health issues, for example, “developing connectedness improves the quality of a young person’s relationships which can assist in improving their mental health as they have people to support them”
• analyse implications of developing the skills by relating them to a specific health issue relevant to young people such as, suicide. For example, “Resilience allows a young person to overcome adversity and coping skills such as seeking help allows a young person to avoid anxiety and depression and therefore lowers the risk of suicide and self-harm.

Areas for students to improve include:

• developing understanding of the skills as they relate to attaining better health
• developing understanding of health issues that impact on the health of young people
• providing a cohesive response by clearly relating how young people can use the skills to accomplish increased levels of physical, mental and social health.

Question 29(ai)

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide statements that demonstrate knowledge of how media coverage reflects sports that are valued in Australia, for example, scheduling, broadcasting or primetime coverage of sports
• correctly identify sports that are valued in Australia.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using supporting statements with accurate sports examples of how media coverage reflects sports that are valued in Australia.

Question 29(aii)

In better responses, students were able to:

• include statements about the emergence of extreme sports due to media influence, for example, the growth in popularity and viewership of BMX, big wave surfing and the X Games in a range of media platforms such as television, social media, YouTube and streaming media.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using examples to support statements that are extreme sports, rather than providing general knowledge of traditional/mainstream sports
• avoiding general statements about the features of extreme sports.

Question 29(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• show an understanding that a commodity is a product that can be bought and sold, for example, though big business, advertising and promotion, merchandise, financial payment and contracts
• analyse and relate the positive and negative consequences of holding a major Australian sporting event for the spectators, participants and the host city
• demonstrate links to major Australian sporting events, for example, the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games, the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the State of Origin and the Melbourne Cup.

Areas for students to improve include:

• addressing the spectators, participants and the host city
• providing supporting statements with examples of a major sporting event, rather than a sporting code.

Question 30(ai)

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide details of the two indicators of readiness for return to play such as pain free and degree of mobility
• support each indicator with an example related to an ankle injury. For example, a football player being able to perform weight bearing exercises, such as running and changing direction without pain, or a gymnast being able to perform a range of movements used in a floor routine such as plantar flexion and dorsiflexion.

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing examples relevant to an ankle injury
• providing an outline of both indicators of readiness for return to play, such as being pain free and the degree of mobility.

Question 30(aii)

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate knowledge of the ethical considerations to be considered when athletes return to play following an injury, such as the pressure to participate and the use of painkillers
• link both ethical issues to an athlete returning to play following an injury
• support discussion with relevant examples such as that it is unethical for coaches and other staff to place external pressures on athletes to return to play before they are ready, leading to greater injury and more time off the field which could possibly destroy an athletes career.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating knowledge and understanding of ethical considerations  
• providing a discussion of the ethical issues  
• providing examples related to both ethical issues.   

Question 30(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a detailed understanding of a number of sports policies and the sports environment drawing out the effects on the safe participation of athletes
• provide detailed judgements which illustrate the links between safe participation in a number of areas relating to sports policy and the sports environment, for example, the matching of opponents can make sport significantly safer by ensuring players of similar size, skill or age are opposed creates a level playing field for competition
• provide strong and relevant examples such as boxing uses weight divisions to match athletes in an attempt to negate significant size and power advantages which would increase the likelihood of injury.  

Areas for students to improve include:

• developing their understanding of sports policy and the sports environment
• providing informed judgements for each area of sports policy and sports environment, rather than one singular judgement for the response or generic repetitive judgements throughout  
• providing relevant examples for each area of sports policy and the sports environment.

Question 31(ai)

In better responses, students were able to:

• correctly identify relevant advancements in equipment improve performance in sport, for example, swimsuits, golf balls, golf clubs, cricket bats, protective equipment
• provide appropriate and relevant information about equipment advancement. For example, full body-length racing swimsuits are manufactured using a high-technology fabric composed of nylon and polyurethane which helps to compress the body, therefore trapping air
• provide details of how advancements improve performance, for example, increased buoyancy helping to hold a more streamlined, higher position in the water, which decreases friction and drag and increases flexibility of movement resulting in faster speed. Many swimming world records were broken due to this advancement.  

Areas for students to improve include:

• developing their understanding about equipment advancements  
• providing specific details about their chosen training advancements and how they have helped improve performance.  

Question 31(aii)

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate their knowledge of relevant training innovations, for example, VO2 max testing, lactate threshold testing, biomechanical analysis
• provide appropriate and relevant information of training innovations
• detail how training innovations can improve the performance of an athlete, for example, video analysis or 3D motion analysis can assist athletes and coaches make adjustments to technique. This enables bowling actions in cricketers to be more efficient making the movement consistently accurate and of a faster pace while also helping to reduce injuries.

Areas for students to improve include:

• addressing all aspects of the question including training innovations and the improvement of performance  
• providing clear details about relevant training innovations  
• clarifying how training innovations can improve performance for an athlete
• providing specific details about training innovations rather than using generalised information about training and/or training types.   

Question 31(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify and demonstrate their knowledge of the elements of a training session
• identify and explain one activity for each element
• provide an argument for each activity selected across the elements of a training session  
• engage with the stimulus in their response  
• provide relevant examples for the elements of a training session.  

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating a clear understanding of the elements of a training session  
• ensuring they address the key components of the question and ‘justify the one activitythe coach could include’ instead of justifying the elements  
• including one relevant activity for the elements.  

Question 32(ai)

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide details on how the early years of life can lead to health inequities  
• support their response with examples appropriate to the age range. For example, poor pre-natal health can lead to low birth weight and higher infant mortality; or, a lack of immunisation or parental education regarding immunisation may lead to preventable mortality and risk of illness during early school years including measles, chicken pox, polio which may have health complications for the very young.

Areas for students to improve include:

• acknowledging the early years of life
• linking ongoing health issues to the early years of life.   

Question 32(aii)

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of socioeconomic factors. For example, the aged may have limited economic resources due to pension, comorbidity of illness, issues with cost and accessibility of treatment, may prioritise basic needs over preventive health aspects; or, people with disabilities may lack job opportunities, decreased earning potential, may have increased associated costs for mobility issues, health complications and lower health status. They may be reliant on pensions and have carers who may also have lower income which may lead to greater risk of health inequities
• clearly demonstrate knowledge of indicated population groups  
• link how socio-economic factors can bring about health inequities  
• support their response with examples appropriate to the population groups.   

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing more than one population group  
• linking the health inequities to the socioeconomic factors and the indicated group.

Question 32(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide detail on the social justice framework
• link factors to health inequities in Australia
• provide a logical, integrated response. For example, empowering disadvantaged communities with activities such as the Koori Community Kitchen project with collective community approaches and projects; or factors such as, access to service and transport, the Flying Doctor Service, The Purple Truck, Purple House for kidney dialysis, links for doctors and prescriptions.

Areas for students to improve include:

• displaying an understanding of the social justice framework rather than principles
• linking factors with framework and health inequities which could be supported through use of examples.