Biology exam papers thought ‘fair’

THE Leaving Certificate biology papers taken by 30,000 students were considered fair but challenging by teacher union representatives.

Although students were not examined on their ecology fieldwork, Lily Cronin of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) said a question about the effects of factory effluent on a river covered a good contemporary ecology issue. She thought the exam was fair but challenging, with precise details required in questions about DNA and a flowering plant, and a difficult diagram required of the liver and small intestine.

Tim O’Meara of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) said a short question about genetic crosses was longer than might be expected and some students might have been confused by two percentages that were the same. He said the higher level exam featured a wide mix of factual questions and others that required applied knowledge, and he thought the heart dissection experiment was probably difficult to describe for most students.

Mr O’Meara thought the ordinary level exam contained no major problems, but the wording of a question asking to name a substance in a diagram of the carbon cycle may have caught out some candidates.

Ms Cronin said there was a nice number of helpful diagrams to aid ordinary level candidates, who were given a nice genetics question about cats and kittens.

The morning’s Junior Certificate science papers were taken by 50,000 students and ASTI spokesperson Crena Shevlin said higher level candidates who had revised well should have done fine. The one area of difficulty they might have found was the requirement to do three graphs or bar charts on syllabus areas such as solubility and the extension of springs.

She was very pleased with the ordinary level exam and said that even the weaker students should have been reasonably happy with it.

TUI’s Carmel Crowley said ordinary level students had a challenge based on the fact that much of the same topics were examined on both ordinary and higher level papers. But, she said, any candidates who had studied the syllabus reasonably well and worked on previous years’ exams should have managed it.

For 26,000 Junior Certificate religious education candidates, the higher and ordinary level papers should have posed no major problems, according to ASTI’s Joanna Martin. She said most students should have been able to get top marks in the short answers section at both levels.

Ms Martin said the higher level essay questions were fair and accessible and longer questions at ordinary level were all OK.

Caroline O’Brien of the Religion Teachers Association of Ireland said the introduction of new elements in the higher level comprehension section might have been tough for the average student, questions on interface dialogue, morality and prayer gave a good choice in the final section.

Jane Campbell of ASTI thought the Leaving Certificate higher level art exam was very clear and did not have too much arty language that sometimes features. She said students were given good scope with a choice of Georgian architects or chosen art works to discuss, although the appearance of Louis le Brocquy but not Yeats or other Irish artists might have limited choices.

Ms Campbell thought the ordinary level exam was very focused.