Well-balanced papers attract little criticism

MORE than 15,500 Junior Certificate students took materials technology (wood) papers yesterday afternoon which drew no major criticisms.

Cornelius Young, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) subject spokesperson said most students would have been well able for a question on the design of a wall unit for medals and trophies in the higher level exam. He said the most difficult question section was about types of adhesives which could be used on a jewellery box.

Mr Young said the ordinary level paper was straightforward, although many questions required higher order thinking and students of technical graphics and technology might have had an advantage in some questions.

Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) subject representative Noel Scott said the higher level exam covered a broad range of the curriculum with language that was easy to understand, and students were particularly happy with a question about power tools.

He said ordinary level students were very happy with their exam, particularly a question about a dog kennel, for which they were asked to design a door.

Earlier yesterday, Junior Certificate technical graphics students were examined and ASTI subject spokesperson John O’Sullivan said the higher level paper was very fair and incorporated many objects from everyday life, such as a data projector and a coffee pot. He said some questions had testing parts but allowed for student achievement across the ability spectrum, and solutions to questions such as the orthographic projection of the data projector required students to apply the same geometric principles to new situations.

He said the ordinary level exam was student-friendly, with questions on a camcorder, a vase and a fish-shop logo, while a rendered thumb sketch of the camcorder was an excellent visual aid. Mr O’Sullivan said the wording of questions in the first section was very clear and additional labelling and 3-D graphics also helped students.

TUI’s Michael Martin said the first section of the higher level paper was fair and well-balanced but in the longer second section, some students might have been put off by a question in which half a shape shown on the paper was a semi-cone and the other was a pyramid. He said the ordinary level paper had a very fair section of short questions, while the longer questions were quite detailed and the ellipse shape in the fish logo was challenging.

For Leaving Certificate physics students, Michael Gillespie of the TUI believed higher level questions about the fundamental frequency of a stretched string and the resistivity of nichrome were expected by many students and there was a nice use of everyday situations such as decibel levels at a concert and a defibrillator. He said the ordinary level paper had nice experiment questions, while the longer section offered a good choice, with good questions on nuclear power, fuses and magnetism.

ASTI’s Edel McInerney said acceleration appeared in a section A question for the third successive year but students would have liked it, and an electricity question was very fair once students knew the formula. She said students may have found a derivation in the defraction question awkward, but the paper was very fair overall.

She said ordinary level students would have liked the question about acceleration due to gravity, and that the use of pictures and diagrams in the paper helped candidates focus on what was required in many questions.

The Leaving Certificate accounting papers were described by ASTI’s Colette Lucey as long and demanding, just like in other years. She said there was nothing new in the adjustments on the opening higher level question about a manufacturing account but the incomplete account was a bit longer than usual. She said the ordinary level exam was in line with previous years and well-prepared students should have managed fine.