Text message question ‘a modern touch’
Teachers Union of Ireland German spokesperson Neil O’Callaghan said the content on the 40-minute aural exam was lively and realistic. One of the dialogues featured a text message disrupting a conversation between two young people, which he felt was a modern twist.
He said the syllabus content was well reflected in the ordinary level written paper, dealing with themes around student life such as part-time jobs.
His only complaint was a blank page near the end which might have led some students to think they had reached the end though there was another question.
The higher-level paper was also fair, he said, although he felt that reference to the Special Olympics in the letter question was a bit outdated.
There were no major problems on the Junior Cert papers either, Mr O’Callaghan said. He felt the ordinary level paper gave students a chance to score high marks and the letter question was perceived as fairly easy.
The higher-level letters were also nice and the reading comprehensions were very straightforward, he said.
Technical drawing Paper II should have posed no major difficulties for Leaving Cert students who took the subject, according to Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland spokesperson John O’Sullivan.
He said the building application section answered by most students was fair and appropriately challenging at higher level, with two questions very similar to ones asked two year’s ago. He said thumb- sketches were very helpful on the ordinary-level paper, which was in line with previous years.
TUI’s technical drawing spokesperson Tommy Grogan said the engineering application section was relevant to the syllabus on both papers. He said there was no ambiguity or anything that might have been misunderstood, although students would have needed the full three hours to finish.
Home economics students at Junior Certificate level were happy yesterday’s exam did not raise as much controversy as the Leaving Cert papers last week.
TUI subject spokesperson Maureen Nugent said all the students she spoke to yesterday were pleased and felt the exam was very fair.
She said it was disappointing not to have a breakdown of marks in questions, and that a short question asking for four tastes on the tongue was too specific.
But Ms Nugent said students should have been pleased the extra question on both papers was about food because they spend a lot of time on food and its preparation. She found no problems with the ordinary level paper, which made clear how much they need to write for their answers.
Tuesday: Reviews of Leaving Cert Physics and Art, Junior Cert Materials Technology and Technical Graphics.
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