So what is this ACTUALLY teaching them?

Cobra

Cobra

In Memoriam. TPer Emeritus
Admin
Messages
114,434
Name
The real Chris
Edit My Images
No
Bitch about it and you get a pass anyway?

Thousands of students had taken to social media after the exam in May to complain that the paper was too difficult and almost impossible to pass......
Click to expand...


....the SQA has confessed the test was indeed more demanding than intended –but that the grade boundaries had been reduced....
Click to expand...

...Teachers are actually saying the higher maths exam was near impossible.
Click to expand...

Erm you are the teachers, teach the little darlings and make sure they study too!
If they are not ready for the exam, don't let them take it!
I'm sure *I* did pre exam tests, those that were not up to standard didn't take the exam.

As above this really isn't teaching them anything,
in both senses of the word!
 
Epic cave.
 
About 50 years too late!!! :P
 
Nod said:
About 50 years too late!!! :p
Click to expand...
Not quite that long you cheeky git :p

But even so, it *must have* been someone else's fault, it couldn't possibly have been mine :(
 
Cobra said:
I think the English Lit exam is next week?
Click to expand...
I think you'll find that is Biology. ;)
As regards the exam appeal, I suppose it depends on the content of the questions. Examining boards have been known to issue papers with questions more difficult than necessary.
 
nilagin said:
I think you'll find that is Biology. ;)
.
Click to expand...
I was referring to the concise reply
concise, giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words; brief but comprehensive.
rather than the subject matter
Literature, in its broadest sense, is any written work; etymologically the term derives from Greek litaritura/litteratura "writing formed with letters"
:D
 
Cobra said:
I was referring to the concise reply
concise, giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words; brief but comprehensive.
rather than the subject matter
Literature, in its broadest sense, is any written work; etymologically the term derives from Greek litaritura/litteratura "writing formed with letters"
:D
Click to expand...
Did that dictionary taste nice or did you swallow it hole before it touched the sides. ;)
 
Cobra said:
Not quite that long you cheeky git :p

But even so, it *must have* been someone else's fault, it couldn't possibly have been mine :(
Click to expand...
You know who I would blame :p
 
whole



:)
 
I'm old enough that 50% was a pass, under that was a fail.
...and it doesn't matter now anyway :)
 
Unfortunately it's now endemic in our society. `Teaching` our little treasures it doesn't matter if they fail & cosseting & over protecting them from real life.

60% for an A grade?
 
Last edited:
OldCarlos said:
Unfortunately it's now endemic in our society. `Teaching` our little treasures it doesn't matter if they fail & cosseting & over protecting them from real life.
Click to expand...
There are "no losers" is the one that always gets me ;)

OldCarlos said:
60% for an A grade?
Click to expand...
It was such a long time ago, buggered if I can remember, but it was a damned sight more than 25% I bet :D
 
from what I can gather there were too many of the harder questions that are ment to test the best students so the pass mark is reduced to compensate. I remember my maths exams had a credit paper and a general paper.
 
POAH said:
from what I can gather there were too many of the harder questions that are ment to test the best students so the pass mark is reduced to compensate. I remember my maths exams had a credit paper and a general paper.
Click to expand...

And the English language papers?
 
Last edited:
My son managed to get 12% in a multiple choice chemistry test when he was at school.
Not his strongest subject :)

Yes, I know, a monkey would get 25%...
 
When you lot were at school, they were not teaching the same range of pupils! The top grades are still very demanding and to suggest otherwise is to dismiss a lot of hard work on both sides. Just like the Tory government who loathe all aspects of education and health. But I won't descend into a rant. Not yet.
 
Chipper said:
When you lot were at school, they were not teaching the same range of pupils! The top grades are still very demanding and to suggest otherwise is to dismiss a lot of hard work on both sides. Just like the Tory government who loathe all aspects of education and health. But I won't descend into a rant. Not yet.
Click to expand...

pretty sure there is the same range of students today as there was when I was at school. there are brainy ones, dumb ones, can't be arsed ones and average ones.
 
They may be the same but they were not all shoe horned into the same, limiting curriculum as today's students are.
 
Chipper said:
They may be the same but they were not all shoe horned into the same, limiting curriculum as today's students are.
Click to expand...

can't discuss the current high school curriculum in Scotland as my kids are still in primary.
 
POAH said:
no idea how the English exams were his year. all the news has been about the hard maths test was it not
Click to expand...

Fairly sure they may have included some use of grammar and capitalisation. ;)
 
POAH said:
can't discuss the current high school curriculum in Scotland as my kids are still in primary.
Click to expand...
It's hard to say. My kids left high school just a few years ago and the curriculum has changed.
Some of it is different to when I was at school, but I could still make sense of their papers.
Most aspects of maths still have to be learned. Maths itself hasn't changed; the same is true for other subjects.

Edit: just noticed the pass mark has been set to 34%
 
Last edited:
Maths may not have changed. Students are doing more difficult things sooner and if they have put questions on a paper that should be used for the level above eg A level instead of GCSE or Uni level instead of A level, then that is not fair and they can't recall all pupils to resit. The fault lies with the exam board's quality control. The only choice they have is to reset the grade boundaries to make it reasonable and appropriate for those sitting the examination. The kids work hard, the teachers work hard... The exam board charge exorbitant fees and still don't get it right. I would suggest that anybody scoring above these grade boundaries is probably a very gifted and talented mathematician.
 
Last edited:
Chipper said:
Maths may not have changed. Students are doing more difficult things sooner and if they have put questions on a paper that should be used for the level above eg A level instead of GCSE or Uni level instead of A level, then that is not fair and they can't recall all pupils to resit. The fault lies with the exam board's quality control. The only choice they have is to reset the grade boundaries to make it reasonable and appropriate for those sitting the examination. The kids work hard, the teachers work hard... The exam board charge exorbitant fees and still don't get it right. I would suggest that anybody scoring above these grade boundaries is probably a very gifted and talented mathematician.
Click to expand...

I have two sons, eldest is 24 and the youngest is 18 and at 6th form college, from their education I saw no evidence of anything more difficult being done sooner, if anything it was easier and they were/are practically nursed through everything.

Did anyone see the 1st episode of the fly on the wall programme on BBC2 last night Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Where 50 kids at a school in Hampshire are being educated by 5 teachers from China comparing the way in which the Chinese education works in comparison to ours. It's not the 1st fly on the wall school programme I've seen, but I would say a lot of the kids of today are a lot more disrespectful and unruly than they were when I was at school.
 
POAH said:
probably but I can't be arsed when I'm posting using an iPhone. also please note my comment re qualifications above
Click to expand...

I could, but I can't be arsed.
 
nilagin said:
I have two sons, eldest is 24 and the youngest is 18 and at 6th form college, from their education I saw no evidence of anything more difficult being done sooner, if anything it was easier and they were/are practically nursed through everything.

Did anyone see the 1st episode of the fly on the wall programme on BBC2 last night Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Where 50 kids at a school in Hampshire are being educated by 5 teachers from China comparing the way in which the Chinese education works in comparison to ours. It's not the 1st fly on the wall school programme I've seen, but I would say a lot of the kids of today are a lot more disrespectful and unruly than they were when I was at school.
Click to expand...

100% agree, even as a student this was obvious - whilst doing mock exams as prep we'd use past papers. We went back over something like 7 years of papers, and they got harder and harder the further back you went. Some exam boards are tougher too, WJEC exams were consistently harder than Edexcel of the same vintage.
 
Ah but those thick ones that didn't pass, it was either to hard, or they had some kind of excuse wearing, benefit gathering label :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top