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Via Obnoxio
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What have we wrought in the UK?
5 hours ago
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Fun online poll: Could you pass a GCSE Science exam?
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10 comments:
It depends where the power station is sited really. There are some parts of the country where a blast of radiation is just what is needed.
My Fx browser is erroneously displaying a heading which describes that as a question from a science exam. Is there an obscure browser setting that needs changing?
And if you read the full transcript of the select committee session, there is a logic to this kind of question....
'Jim Knight: Do not forget that a GCSE, for example, is measuring both level 1 and level 2-the full range of A to G. A national curriculum test is measuring the full range of ability, so it is possible to pluck out questions that are pretty straightforward, such as that one. .... But there are others that measure the higher ability range. It can be unfair to the achievements of young people to pluck out the easy ones in isolation. '
From: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/c...iii/uc65102.htm
But then again, the whole point of the Telegraph article is to provide a platform for Dr Kealey to espouse the benefits of a private education (you'd never guess he was Vice-Chancellor of the only private University in the UK would you???).
I actually did a GCSE "science" exam as a bet a few weeks ago. It took almost as long to download as it did to complete it. I've never seen such a load of "political" drivel dignified with the name of science before. After downloading the marking scheme I was delighted to be awarded an "A*" by my amused (teacher) friend - who then had to cough up the agreed number of pints. :-)
OK, I've a degree in Physics, but that was 40 years ago and I'm damed-certain that a mid-1960s "O" Level paper would have been a far more daunting prospect!
Pogo, as an expert in these matters, could you pop back in a week or so and tell us the 'correct' answer?
You mean there is one? :-)
P, it might be a trick question or something. Like, whether times travels slower or faster on a geo-stationary satellite than it does on earth.
Anon: "there is a logic to this kind of question."
That is a matter of opinion. And in my opinion this is not a science question, it might just pass muster as an environmental studies question, or perhaps media studies or even comparative religious studies. But science? No.
The Royal society of Chemistry set a paper for children who got A grades in GCSE chemistry, comprising of a selection of questions from the 60s,70s, 80, 90s and this 'ere new century. The average score was 25% (fail) and of the older questions, 15% (big fail). one exception kid in Brum got 94%. I did em too, and got 90%! Ha! But there again I got an A in A level chemistry in 1971, when questions were challenging!
The knobhead who whittled on about Ofqual is actually failing our children. That question on 'science' is utter rubbish. Should have asked something like, describe a chain reaction in atomic fission and give the atomic numbers and weights of the fission products by means of an equation or some such.
Really if this is challenging a certain group of chiuldren they should not be entered in the exam. Merging O levels and the CSE was just a daft form of political correctness. Can you imaging how the clever children feel when this level of drivel is taught in a class (most are unstreamed unfortunately)?
In a science class they should be teaching about the scientific method, technical info, practical skills and how to think and reason from a science perspective. if the little blighters cannot cope with this they shouldn't be in a science class to start with.
"Merging O levels and the CSE was just a daft form of political correctness"
...and one which never really happened. Nearly all GCSEs have two tiers, one for would-have-been-O-level students and one for would-have-been-CSE students. The highest grade you can get in the lower tier exam is a C.
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