Home ec questions ‘relevant and topical’
Maura McCaul, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) subject spokeswoman, said the higher-level paper had questions on relevant and topical course areas, such as obesity, aerobic exercise and positive mental attitude, while the typical nutritional value comparison about blackcurrants and apples was something most candidates should have been well prepared for.
She thought students should also have liked straightforward questions about the role of the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) and about smoking.
For ordinary-level students, Ms McCaul thought the exam was well laid out with no difficult terminology. Issues relevant to young people’s lives included budgeting and credit buying, but a question on differentiating between organic and inorganic waste may have been challenging for some students at this level.
The morning papers for Junior and Leaving Certificate students were on German. Younger candidates were frustrated by the pace of the speakers in one section of the listening test, according to ASTI subject spokesman Don Morgan. He said the higher and ordinary-level written exams had no surprises, with material examined that should have been covered in classes.
His view of the Leaving Certificate exams was positive, with an opening piece in the listening test about social networking, a topic students could relate to well. However, he thought there could have been more content in the higher-level written paper about topical issues they might have prepared for, such as the environment or the recession.
On the other hand, he felt students may have enjoyed the question in which they were asked to reply to a letter about pop music and leisure activities, which included a mention of Jedward who competed at the Eurovision in Hamburg last month. Otherwise, the paper was student-friendly, with no surprises or unfair questions.
He said most of the 2,200 people who took the ordinary-level exam should have been happy with it, as there was nothing that would particularly bother capable students.
John O’Sullivan, the ASTI’s representative for the subject, said both higher and ordinary-level papers were structured in a manner that students would have expected and the questions were clearly presented. He commended the fact that efforts were made to test candidates in geometry in an applied manner.
For example, at higher level, there were questions based on a graphic of the Port Tunnel in Dublin and on an office chair support cushion, while ordinary level students were set questions that featured a bus shelter and a whistle.
Mr O’Sullivan said the papers focused on examining the breadth of the course with questions pitched at an appropriate level, bearing in mind that students had already completed an assessment worth 40% of the total marks for the subject. While the questions on the predetermined topics in the final section were more challenging, he said this was to be expected and they were fair.
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