No shocks for students in appliance of science

Junior Certificate science papers contained no surprises but raised more uncertainties about the exam-setting process.

Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) spokesperson Gerry King said higher-level students were set a fair and balanced paper that featured many topics relating to everyday life, such as carbon monoxide risks from household appliances.

While the biology section did not examine any mandatory experiments, elements of them featured strongly throughout, with one question in the chemistry section and two physics experiments were also examined. Mr King noted the use of a number of graphs in the exam and thought the paper overall should not have been a problem for most students, with up to 35% of marks already accounted for through earlier- submitted coursework books and completion of experiments in schools.

The State Examinations Commission (SEC) last night apologised for a typographical error on the ordinary level exam. A solid marked in a diagram as Solid S was referred to as Solid B in a related question, worth 0.5% of total marks.

Mr King thought the general standard of this exam unproblematic, covering a wide range of topics across the syllabus and with good use of diagrams.

Peter Keaney of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) said the ordinary level exam was fine, and included a standard chemistry experiment on carbon dioxide. But he felt a question about the measure for calculating electrical energy use could confuse ordinary level students, as a case could be made for kW or kWh as the correct answer. The SEC said it was satisfied with how the question was asked, but will consider the point before the marking scheme is finalised.

Otherwise, Mr Keaney said it was a well-presented exam, allowing students to show their knowledge of science.

He said chemistry questions were the toughest for higher level students, but also cited the lack of a biology experiment question.

lLeaving Certificate business was examined yesterday morning and ASTI spokesperson John McDonnell was pleased with the topical nature of questions, like business regulation by government, the Labour Relations Commission and data protection law.

There was an applied business question on an Irish company in the rapidly growing gaming sector, although the exam also covered many traditional topics such as entrepreneurship, marketing and business expansion. He said the paper was challenging but fair, as students’ understanding of the course basics was tested, but so too was their ability to get the exam completed in the allotted three hours.

Mr McDonnell thought the ordinary level exam, taken by around 3,000 of this year’s 17,000 business students, was straightforward with a good range of questions. While traditional in format, it also featured current trends like bank loans for small businesses, consumer rights issues and employment equality law.

- The study of art at school ended for more than 10,000 students in the afternoon and questions at higher and ordinary level were considered long by TUI spokesperson Helen Comiskey. But there was good choice in all three sections, although more so for higher level, and she felt ordinary level students should have fared well after the initial shock and reading questions in greater detail.

She thought the higher level exam had nice open questions to allow them pick an artist or work they were familiar with, like one asking about any self-portrait.

ASTI’s Jane Campbell said a higher level question on Georgian architecture had the potential to confuse students whether they were being asked about a building in public ownership today or when first built. But she was largely positive on the exam, with many questions allowing candidates write about an art movement rather than a specific artist, and a welcome uniformity to how questions were structured.

She found the ordinary level exam fair and well-structured, but not as open for students to show off knowledge of personal areas of interest. The language of some questions, asking about ‘visual elements’ and ‘design qualities’, was considered a bit tough.