AyrshireTon Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 I wonder if people ever consider that exams might be harder when you're a child, rather than an adult. I went through the whole, 'look here's an exam from the 70s/80s' when I was at school. Of course it looked difficult because it was an exam for a course none of us had sat. I've shown the past paper books from the 80s to my classes and they were astonished. Big wordy questions, no simple language giving you lead-ins and little in the way of pictures. That and much of the content has been shoved upwards to the level above whatever it was set at back then. Much of the old Arithmetic paper would make no sense now - Rates, Rateable value and such like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Higher English demonstrates communication skills, both for talking to the pupils and writing reports And a degree doesn't? ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyrshireTon Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 And a degree doesn't? ??? Depends on the degree. Not having Higher English didn't stop my mate getting a Physics degree. Did stop him getting into teaching college straight after it. Most I ever wrote was lab reports and statistical analysis. The language used in these tend to be very technical and not of the sort used when say, trying to put a positive slant on a report (which is a different skill altogether). Even some of the stuff I did write was only rough drafts of my research for taking into the final exam. Teaching college was the first I'd ever encountered having to write anything longer than a 2 page Higher English essay - many other Science graduates were in the same boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamaldo Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 The qualifications system looks like a complete clusterfuck to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad Lib Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Can any of the maths teachers on here explain to me why people were complaining about the Higher Maths exam? I saw the question and while not easy by any stretch it looked like a fairly straightforward test of whether you know how to find a limit by differentiating and then doing a bit of quadratics to clean up. When I sat Higher I'm pretty sure we learned all of those things and at least some times had to use them concurrently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madwullie Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Not a maths teacher but the main complaint as far as I can tell was that it was completely unlike any other problem in previous papers in the way it was expressed and laid out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyrshireTon Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Can any of the maths teachers on here explain to me why people were complaining about the Higher Maths exam? I saw the question and while not easy by any stretch it looked like a fairly straightforward test of whether you know how to find a limit by differentiating and then doing a bit of quadratics to clean up. When I sat Higher I'm pretty sure we learned all of those things and at least some times had to use them concurrently.Some of the questions would not have looked out of place in a paper 20 years ago (pre-Higher Still). A candidate using the recent past papers to revise would have found much to challenge them in the final exam. It can be argued that CfE is supposed to promote a mind that can problem solve better, but a little warning from the SQA would not have gone amiss, especially when it's the first new Higher. Candidates chasing a C pass rather than more gifted ones seeking an A were at a distinct disadvantage.Either it's going to be like this from now on, which means potential C grade pupils will be put off and schools will need to dig out the older stuff, or they'll (not openly) admit they've fecked it up and make future papers more akin to what's been seen in recent years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad Lib Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 What is it specifically about the nature of the question people were having difficulty with? What additional information would have made it a more acceptable question? I'm a bit confused by the fuss. I'd have sat Higher Maths in 2008 which is admittedly a while ago and that question doesn't feel out of place from the stuff we did. Admittedly I don't approach this as someone who struggled with Maths (I think I dropped a mark in each Higher paper, both basic arithmetical errors). I would say the scenario seems a bit contrived but it's reasonably clear what is being asked in Mathematical terms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyrshireTon Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 What is it specifically about the nature of the question people were having difficulty with? What additional information would have made it a more acceptable question? I'm a bit confused by the fuss. I'd have sat Higher Maths in 2008 which is admittedly a while ago and that question doesn't feel out of place from the stuff we did. Admittedly I don't approach this as someone who struggled with Maths (I think I dropped a mark in each Higher paper, both basic arithmetical errors). I would say the scenario seems a bit contrived but it's reasonably clear what is being asked in Mathematical terms. Can't help with that one as I haven't seen it. Ours sat the old Higher which, whilst having many questions in common, didn't have the one folk are talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad Lib Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Can't help with that one as I haven't seen it. Ours sat the old Higher which, whilst having many questions in common, didn't have the one folk are talking about.Here it is. Freebie marks for x=20 and x=0. Then a biggie which screams differentiate to find a turning point between the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antti Niemi Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 Worst thing in the world is kids/kids' parents moaning about exams being too hard. Play to the whistle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyrshireTon Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 Here it is. Freebie marks for x=20 and x=0. Then a biggie which screams differentiate to find a turning point between the two. So all the fuss was about optimisation with the chain rule chucked in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad Lib Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 So all the fuss was about optimisation with the chain rule chucked in? So you think it's a legitimate question? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyrshireTon Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 So you think it's a legitimate question?Yes.It's tricker than the average optimisation question owing to the chain rule being needed, but follows the same rules as the rest. Set the question up in bracket form, differentiate it, then set equal to zero and solve. Stick the answer back into the original equation. Optimisation questions normally have 3 marks for proving the function, and then 5 for maximising. The former is always badly done, but most candidates can do the 5 mark calculus bit. No proof here this time - just tricker calculus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 So are the main problems here that i) many, if not most of the school kids basically relied on the recent past papers and were f***ed because the format / questions were different and ii) genuine problems requiring e.g. differentiation were given rather than a simple question saying "differentiate the following equation"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.A.F.C Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 Why would a crocodile attack something on land when it can do so from the water? This question makes no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky88 Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 Can any of the maths teachers on here explain to me why people were complaining about the Higher Maths exam? I saw the question and while not easy by any stretch it looked like a fairly straightforward test of whether you know how to find a limit by differentiating and then doing a bit of quadratics to clean up. When I sat Higher I'm pretty sure we learned all of those things and at least some times had to use them concurrently.you remember far too much about higher maths for my liking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accies1874 Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 Why would a crocodile attack something on land when it can do so from the water? This question makes no sense.Well it's obviously relevant as why would they teach you something you'll never need to know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WFAANW Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 Both get fucked up by a creepy dentist anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad Lib Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 you remember far too much about higher maths for my liking I'm a geek. Get over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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