Karpaty Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 1432297656556.jpg ^^^ off to join his big team, Clyde 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagfox Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 ^^^ off to join his big team, Clyde He'd win you the league. Sum boi 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karpaty Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 He'd win you the league. Sum boi I meant you, seeing as that pic doesn't tell us who it is 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banana Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 There are seven of us in our department. IIRC four of us, including myself, have Honours in maths. Two have ordinary degrees, one has a masters in actuarial maths. At lunchtime on Tuesday the seven of us spent the entire time debating how to answer that crocodile question. There's something seriously wrong if seven qualified maths teachers can't agree in 40 minutes how to do a question that a 16-year-old kid is supposed to do in 10. Indeed! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Jo Jo Junior Shabadoo Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 There are seven of us in our department. IIRC four of us, including myself, have Honours in maths. Two have ordinary degrees, one has a masters in actuarial maths. At lunchtime on Tuesday the seven of us spent the entire time debating how to answer that crocodile question. There's something seriously wrong if seven qualified maths teachers can't agree in 40 minutes how to do a question that a 16-year-old kid is supposed to do in 10. Am I oversimplifying this or is it not just a case of substituting x for 0 and 20 for the first two, then differentiating the formula and substituting the rate of change for zero in part 2? I'd tell you the answer but have completely forgotten how to differentiate. It has been well over 10 years. The person who drew the diagram should be shot if that is the case. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagfox Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 I meant you, seeing as that pic doesn't tell us who it is James Craigen 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sugna Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 That's kind of the whole point, though. We should be comparing with the expected CFE standard - it's a CFE Higher Thanks very much for taking the time to do that, Gaz. Very interesting. Here's my take on it, which wont be popular but is an alternative view: I reckon that the maths in these is really quite simple as long as you take the time to read the questions properly and are comfortable with understanding the basic concepts (not just having memorised them). The weakness is in the narrative, which I think is a consequence of trying to make maths relate to everyday situations (such as controlling a crocodile optimally...). This is the major flaw I see in the philosophy of CfE: integrating literacy and numeracy into all subjects, and in the case of Maths, vice versa. It's important to accept that some things, such as Maths, are genuinely hard for a lot of people. The reason I see these as simple, i think, is that my background is engineering and so context is everything: the nature of the problem scuppers engineers far more than the mechanics of the calculation or algorithm, certainly in exam situations. The "time taken" definition, for example, appears earlier in the question but not at the point where the equation is given (separated from it by a figure, which of course breaks the continuity). I completely agree with the "height of the toad" comment. The part I've quoted from your post is where I think I disagree in principle: it's important to have continuity within CfE Highers; but it's even more important to have continuity across SCQF Level 6. Again, thanks very much for posting those details. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightswoodBear Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 I sat Higher maths, twice, and failed, twice. Mostly due to my total lack of preparation. Those questions have just brought back the total feeling of helplessness that I felt when sitting those exams. You cock. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YassinMoutaouakil Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 In fairness, it was fucking insane. The SQA have screwed them over big time.Fair enough. Hopefully they'll make next year's much easier to compensate. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boostin' Kev Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 FFS Maths was one of my better subjects at school and I have no idea how to begin answering those questions. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamdunk Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 I was doing far harder maths in uni, and I can't even remember how to do those questions! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sugna Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Am I oversimplifying this or is it not just a case of substituting x for 0 and 20 for the first two, then differentiating the formula and substituting the rate of change for zero in part 2? I'd tell you the answer but have completely forgotten how to differentiate. It has been well over 10 years. The person who drew the diagram should be shot if that is the case. That was exactly my take on it. Simpler maths than I am used to seeing at Higher level, but a less clear narrative (and diagram). They are trying to "test the contextual understanding" but the context presentation is rubbish. Easy for engineers who are adequate mathematicians; tough for mathematicians who are inadequate engineers. Testing the wrong criteria, IMHO. It's been a few decades but the derivative is also do-it-in-your-head easy (I think Gaz will confirm). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammer Jag Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Right-wing bigots and knuckle draggers posting about Lee Rigby. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boghead ranter Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 I sat Higher maths, twice, and failed, twice. Mostly due to my total lack of preparation. Those questions have just brought back the total feeling of helplessness that I felt when sitting those exams. You cock. I got it Failed Higher physics in 5th year. Re-sat it in 6th year, and miraculously manged to unlearn stuff, as I got 10% less than the year before. My Mum, a physics teacher, was black affronted. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 (edited) Indeed! Oh don't get me wrong, we could all do the questions. But there are quite a few different, but equally mathematically sound, ways to answer most of them. And it's trying to put ourselves in the position of a 16-year-old kid, seeing the context of the question for the first time, with an hour and a half to answer this one (and eight others). Edited May 22, 2015 by Gaz 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherrif John Bunnell Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 The greatest threat to our kids today. Err, Monster energy drink. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 (edited) Thanks very much for taking the time to do that, Gaz. Very interesting. Here's my take on it, which wont be popular but is an alternative view: I reckon that the maths in these is really quite simple as long as you take the time to read the questions properly and are comfortable with understanding the basic concepts (not just having memorised them). The weakness is in the narrative, which I think is a consequence of trying to make maths relate to everyday situations (such as controlling a crocodile optimally...). This is the major flaw I see in the philosophy of CfE: integrating literacy and numeracy into all subjects, and in the case of Maths, vice versa. It's important to accept that some things, such as Maths, are genuinely hard for a lot of people. The reason I see these as simple, i think, is that my background is engineering and so context is everything: the nature of the problem scuppers engineers far more than the mechanics of the calculation or algorithm, certainly in exam situations. The "time taken" definition, for example, appears earlier in the question but not at the point where the equation is given (separated from it by a figure, which of course breaks the continuity). I completely agree with the "height of the toad" comment. The part I've quoted from your post is where I think I disagree in principle: it's important to have continuity within CfE Highers; but it's even more important to have continuity across SCQF Level 6. Again, thanks very much for posting those details. I broadly agree with the gist of what you're saying. The Frog and Toad question was a prime example. It's a really, really straightforward recurrence relation question, but the context is absolutely ridiculous, confusing and totally unrelated to real life. Even with the crocodile question, the actual maths behind it isn't too difficult (obviously it's easy for me and you, but most A/B candidates should be capable of answering it), but the context is so confusing that people are going to get so demoralised and not even attempt it). The mention of something being upstream introduces the possibility of vectors (relative velocity). The diagram is abysmal. If I'm being honest I still can't see what it's meant to show. I ended up drawing my own diagram, an aerial one, to make more sense of everything. Edited May 22, 2015 by Gaz 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 The greatest threat to our kids today. Err, Monster energy drink. itshouldbeillegal.jpg I will be genuinely interested if there is ever an academic study on the correlation between the rise in popularity of energy drinks and the decline of behaviour / attainment at schools. We have kids coming in who've drank four cans of some Monster-like energy drink before 8:35 in the morning. They are absolutely buzzing and go into what I can only describe as a comedown a couple of hours later, and are totally lethargic in the afternoons. What the stuff does to kids is unbelievable. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Someone's set up a Twitter account for the SQA frog @thesqafrog 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 I sat Higher maths, twice, and failed, twice. Mostly due to my total lack of preparation. Those questions have just brought back the total feeling of helplessness that I felt when sitting those exams. You cock. I started panicing while reading them. Then remembered I've gone almost ten years without having to work out the length of different sides of a triangle and done just fine 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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