It seems that scarcely a year goes by without some degree of controversy surrounding the Leaving Certificate examinations. Last year saw the English paper, while this year saw great weeping and gnashing of teeth among students of higher level mathematics. The media, of course, dine out on this stuff and one could almost hear Joe Duffy salivate as hysterical mothers spat venom at the heartless examiners who had destroyed their pride and joy's chances of a future in medicine.
The controversy surrounded what was perceived as an exceptionally 'challenging' question on the higher level paper one. It didn't help that the particular question, on differential calculus, is generally one of the most popular among students.
There were further difficulties associated with Question 8, with many students believing there was an error on the paper and that the calculus equation should have been expressed in terms of 't', rather than 'x' as was stated on the paper.
The controversy was greeted with the usual level of frenzy we come to associate with the leaving cert and the media were awash with tales of young people leaving exam halls in floods of tears, not to mention the mothers! One irate mum explained on the Joe Duffy show that the only students who opt for higher level maths are those who expect to achieve a grade A in the subject; a somewhat peculiar assertion, given that only one in seven actually succeeded in attaining that level in 2010. The caller seemed view higher level maths purely as a means through which students can maximise points. The existence of such may go some way towards explaining our ongoing difficulties regarding levels of attainment in maths.
Some conclusions can be drawn from the controversy. First of all, the paper offers a simple lesson in exam preparation and strategy. As outlined above, differential calculus is one of the most popular topics among candidates sitting the higher level paper. As such, the question lends itself to be used by the State Examinations Commission as an 'A prohibitor'. Putting a sting in the tail of the most popular questions is an easy method of separating the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. The real problem is that most students restrict themselves to the same popular topics. This poses a problem when one of those topics proves exceptionally difficult, with many having no plan B to fall back on. Presented with the difficult differential calculus question on this year's paper, the student who had been broad in the scope of his preparation would have found himself to select from other more straightforward options.
This, of course, is of little consolation now to the many students who found themselves caught in the trap. The comments of John Brennan might be of some consolation however. The maths 'guru' explained that the negative impact of the difficult aspect of the question will be, at worst, modest. He also had the temerity to suggest that the mothers tearing their hair out on the national airwaves might be blowing things a little out of proportion. One can imagine the indignation that greeted that particular comment.
Whether they were blowing things out of proportion or not, the distraught mothers who vented on air did a dissevice to the young examination candidates. They would be far better served by diverting their energies towards facilitating their sons and daughters in fostering and maintaining a healthy and grounded attitude towards examinations and points.
