PDHPE 2024 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• read the question carefully to ensure important components of the question are not missed
• 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 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 to support their response
• communicate ideas and information using relevant examples
• present a logical and cohesive response that addresses the question
• review the response to ensure it addresses question requirements.

Question 21

In better responses, students were able to:

• outline how two sources of stress can impact performance in a grand final game.

Areas for students to improve include:

• relating the sources of stress to a grand final game.

Question 22

In better responses, students were able to:

• correctly identify the by-products for two energy systems
• demonstrate an understanding of why the by-products are generated and how they are processed
• understanding the impact of the by-products of the energy systems and provide specific comparisons of the differences and/or similarities of the by-products.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating knowledge of the by-products of energy systems
• making clear comparisons between by-products rather than comparing characteristics and features of energy systems.

Question 23(a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a sound understanding of why prevalence of a condition is important when identifying priority health issues, for example, the high prevalence of bowel cancer had led to a prioritisation of government funding to support free bowel cancer testing kits to address the burden of disease.

Areas for students to improve include:

• focusing on the importance of prevalence when identifying priority health issues.

Question 23(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide characteristics and features of more than one cost, direct and/or indirect, to the community
• support the response with an example focused on an individual diagnosed with a specific chronic disease(s), for example, retraining a new staff member due to an employee being on sick leave as they are attending chemotherapy treatment for lung cancer.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating knowledge of the costs to the community when an individual is diagnosed with a specific chronic disease(s).

Question 24

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate understanding of the way technique can be used to appraise an athlete's performance and provide a relevant example to support the response.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding the term ‘appraise’ and providing an example to support the response.

Question 25

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate understanding of why there has been an increase in complementary health services or products and provide an example to support the response.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding the term ‘complementary’ in relation to health products or services.

Question 26

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate knowledge of how neural strategies, such as hydrotherapy and massage, benefit neural recovery
• assess the use and benefit of each neural strategy and make clear the value of the neural strategy to a specific athlete’s performance
• provide a specific performance benefit for the athlete. For example, the soccer striker will be able to kick through a full range of motion allowing for maximum power in repeat performances after sufficient neural recovery.

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing more than one benefit and more than one strategy
• correctly addressing neural strategies, such as hydrotherapy (hot water immersion and contrast water immersion), massage and acupuncture
• addressing the term ‘assess’, by providing a judgement and not just repeating the question.

Question 27

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide a well-informed judgement of the extent the socioeconomic factors affect the health of one of the groups listed. For example, people living in rural and remote areas may have a higher prevalence of lung cancer, due to higher smoking rates, poorer education and lower health literacy
• provide socioeconomic examples of the extent. For example, the survival rate of breast cancer for women is halved for low socioeconomic status people, due to their lack of understanding of heath literacy and access to regular breast examinations.

Areas for students to improve include:

• ensuring the extent of the relationship between the socioeconomic factors and the impact on the chosen group's health is evident. For example, blue collar workers such as farmers, may have an increased risk of melanoma due to prolonged UV exposure from the hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (peak time)
• providing relevant examples throughout the response and using specific language to make clear the extent of the impact throughout the response.

Question 28(a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify a prevailing youth culture, for example, youth party, gamers or Tik Tok trends (i)
• refer to specific links to the health of young people, for example, alcohol consumption, social isolation and body image (i)
• provide one effect that a prevailing youth culture has on young people's health. For example, the online gamer culture can promote the mental health of a young person by increasing connectedness through communication with likeminded young people (i)
• demonstrate understanding of the developmental stage, for example, the developmental stage occurs during the ages of 0–12 years (ii)
• demonstrate how motivations and values can vary due to a young person's experience in the developmental stage. For example, primary school children whose parents instil strong physical activity habits may continue to value sport and fitness in high school (ii)
• use relevant examples such as, children who grow up in households with older siblings at university may be more motivated to achieve in the HSC (ii).

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding the developmental stage of a young person’s life (ii)
• understanding the relationship between the prevailing youth culture and its effect on the health of young people. For example, the impact of music festival culture on young people’s physical health due to increased exposure to alcohol and drug use (i)
• explaining how motivations and values can vary in young people due to their developmental stage (ii)
• providing relevant examples in the developmental stage. For example, an 11-year-old girl watching an athlete at the Olympic Games is inspired and motivated to become a squad swimmer (ii).

Question 28(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• evaluate the effectiveness of legislation and health promotion initiatives in addressing one major health issue affecting young people, supported with reasons. For example, the effectiveness of the zero blood alcohol content level and harsh penalties for learner and provisional drivers in reducing the risk of accidents
• use a range of relevant examples of legislation and health promotion initiatives that are specifically designed to target young people and the major health issue. For example, the RYDA driver program to address road safety issues amongst young people
• provide more than one legislation and health promotion initiative in addressing one major health issue affecting young people.

Areas for students to improve include:

• making judgements throughout the response
• addressing both legislation and health promotion initiatives
• addressing a health issue that affects young people, for example, road safety, mental health problems and illnesses.

Question 29(a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate understanding why sport is considered a commodity, for example, team merchandise or to make a profit for a sporting club (i)
• clearly demonstrate how sports advertising has changed. For example, from radio/print media to social media, sponsorship of teams, players and/or stadiums (ii)
• demonstrate understanding of a business focus in sport, such as financial gain
• explain changes in advertising over time due to the business focus of sport, such as financial gain for sponsors, economic benefit to a professional sporting club (aii).

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating knowledge about changes in sports advertising, rather than changes in the media (ii)
• providing examples of changes in advertising in sport, rather than changes to the business of sport (ii).

Question 29(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide judgements on the extent the construction of masculinity and femininity influenced sports participation
• demonstrate understanding of the construction of both femininity and masculinity, and make reference to historical and/or contemporary construction. For example, traditional views of masculinity being ‘physically stronger’ influenced male participation in sports such as boxing and rugby
• show the relationships between the construction of both femininity and masculinity on contemporary sports participation. For example, increased participation rates of females in contact sports such as AFL.

Areas for students to improve include:

• addressing all components of the question, including the influences on sports participation, rather than the influences on the construction of masculinity and femininity in general
• providing judgements on the influence on sports participation, rather than judgements on the construction of masculinity and/or femininity in society.

Question 30(a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify a relevant eating disorder for example, anorexia nervosa or bulimia (i)
• demonstrate an understanding of the disorder’s impacts on a female athlete. For example, anorexia reduces nutrient intake and lowers energy levels which causes athletes to feel fatigued during training/performance (i)
• identify the changes a female athlete undergoes during pregnancy, for example, physiological changes, reduced cardiovascular capacity, changes in hormone levels (ii)
• demonstrate an understanding of the impact of these changes on a female athlete's participation in sport. For example, weight gain and shifts in the centre of gravity during pregnancy affecting balance and increasing the risk of falls or injuries (ii).

Areas for students to improve include:

• identifying an eating disorder and understanding the impact on the body (i)
• understanding the changes that a female athlete undergoes during pregnancy (ii)
• providing sport specific examples that demonstrate the impact of pregnancy on participation in sport. For example, contact sports such as rugby league should be avoided to reduce damage to the developing foetus (ii).

Question 30(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate understanding of the use of specific warm-up and psychological readiness procedures to indicate if an athlete is ready to return to play after an injury
• provide informed judgements on both specific warm-up and psychological readiness procedures of the athlete returning to play. For example, a sport specific warm-up includes replicating the demands of the sport on the athlete to reduce the likelihood of re-injury
• support the response with relevant examples of injuries within sports that relate to specific warm-ups and psychological readiness procedures and how they influence and determine an athlete's return to play. For example, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in soccer.

Areas for students to improve include:

• evaluating how specific warm-ups and psychological readiness procedures affects an athletes return to play from an injury
• supporting the response with a range of relevant sporting examples and avoiding generic implications, such as, pain free and hurting.

Question 31(a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide characteristics and features of a phase of training. For example, increasing training intensity in the preseason phase to prepare the athlete for the competition phase (i)
• explain why an athlete should taper to improve performance. For example, the effects of a marathon runner tapering three weeks prior to an event (ii)
• provide specific examples of tapering, such as reducing intensities of training or specific volume loads (ii).

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing characteristics for one phase of competition (i)
• demonstrating knowledge of tapering supported with examples. The use of the term ‘athlete’ is not a specific example and students should refer to a specific type of athlete (ii)
• understanding the potential effects of tapering and the results if it is successful (ii).

Question 31(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate understanding of a range of advancements in sporting technology
• integrate a range of examples of the advancements and link these to improved performance. For example, the material and design of the LZR swimsuit increases buoyancy and reduces drag friction allowing athletes to travel faster through the water
• provide comprehensive judgements about the extent to which the technology improved performance of athletes in sport. For example, the LZR suit design led to the swimsuit being more streamlined and resulted in numerous world records being set. This was a significant improvement in technology and the influence it had on performance was very high, which resulted in it being banned in future Olympic games.

Areas for students to improve include:

• focusing on how the technology has evolved and led to improvements in the performance for athletes in specific sports
• ensuring that examples are relevant when linking the advancement to improvement in a sport
• providing judgements regarding the extent of the technology advancement in improving performance. For example, biomechanical analysis of a tennis player’s serve.

Question 32(a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate understanding of social justice, for example, removal of barriers to allow for equity (i)
• identify a disadvantaged community and understand casual factors relevant to this group, for example, a homeless person and daily living conditions (ii)
• demonstrate understanding of how empowering a disadvantaged community can address the causal factors of a health inequity. For example, retraining an unemployed person improves chances of obtaining work and improving self-worth (ii).

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding social justice and community groups
• providing examples of access to health services and impacts on health (i).

Question 32(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate understanding of how data has been used to determine the degree of inequities for one specific group, for example, geographically remote populations
• provide an evaluation of the usefulness of health data to determine the degree of inequities for the chosen group. For example, analysis of heath data can show variations in access to healthcare, such as lower preventative health visits for geographically remote populations, which may impact on the accuracy of health issue statistics within the community
• support judgements with relevant examples such as health initiatives and data trends
• show a relationship between the use of data to support preventative actions, for example, ‘Closing the Gap’ government initiatives for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Areas for students to improve include:

• making judgements and showing how data has been used positively and/or negatively to address health inequities within one Australian population group
• including specific examples that effectively illustrate inequities.