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How goods are you at maths? Leaving Cert results? (Country rankings included)

  • 08-08-2013 02:33PM
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 797 ✭✭✭


    http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading

    This is from a few years ago but it's interesting.

    What did you get in Maths for the leaving? I got a B3 at ordinary level. Not great but not bad : /

    (btw I'm posting it in after hours to get a broader sample rather than education)

    What did you get in Leaving Cert maths? 482 votes

    Higher A1
    0% 0 votes
    Higher A2
    15% 73 votes
    Higher B1
    8% 39 votes
    Higher B2
    8% 41 votes
    Higher B3
    6% 29 votes
    Higher C1
    4% 22 votes
    Higher C2
    6% 33 votes
    Higher C3
    3% 17 votes
    Higher D or lower
    3% 18 votes
    Ordinary A1
    2% 10 votes
    Ordinary A2
    12% 60 votes
    Ordinary B1
    5% 25 votes
    Ordinary B2
    10% 50 votes
    Ordinary B3
    3% 16 votes
    Ordinary C1
    2% 10 votes
    Ordinary C2
    4% 21 votes
    Ordinary C3
    0% 3 votes
    Ordinary D or lower/Foundation
    3% 15 votes


«13456

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,711 ✭✭✭keano_afc


    B1 in Ordinary. I was very happy with it to be honest. Was never any good at maths until we did complex numbers in 5th year. For some reason I found them really easy and everyting after that was much more managable.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,678 ✭✭✭I Heart Internet


    C1 in Higher Level.............oooooooooohhhh...........yeeeaaahhh!

    Ireland seems to be lagging behind according to the OECD results in the Guardian report.

    I'm sure Project Maths will sort that out *snigger*


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,787 ✭✭✭Aglomerado


    A1, Ordinary Level. I had some excellent teachers who helped me to attain this, especially as I'd had very poor Maths education in the last two years of National school (the emphasis being on Irish and religion) and mostly got Es and Fs during my early years in secondary school. Everything fell into place for me sometime before the Junior Cert.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 25 tomatosauce34


    Nobody who scores even an A1 in Ordinary or Higher in the Leaving qualifies as "good at maths". The proof for my assertion rests in the evidence presented by the Government that the maths examinations in the Leaving Cert are marked on a strict bell curve basis. You would need an absolute score on many more tests over the course of your lifetime to make a positive assertion about your maths ability. Given an arbitrary mean and a standard deviation, even if 2 or 3 deviations above the mean does not mean you are naturally good at mathematics, it just proves you are slightly better than the average cohort.

    I must stress again, the maths in the Leaving Cert is marked on a relative, and not absolute basis(bell curve) therefore it cannot give you a full picture about your maths ability. The following proof will suffice to back up my claim. If you get 60-70% in LC Maths, it does not mean you know that percentage of material well, just that you fit with the norm(average).

    http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/2012/07/18/00018.asp


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,461 ✭✭✭--Kaiser--


    I got a B3 in Honours and I hate (and am useless at) most maths. Found Probability, Vectors and Matrices pretty easy though


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  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,554 Mod ✭✭✭✭Amirani


    C2 in Higher Level. I did a heavily maths based course in college though, so I'd hope to be considered a bit better these days.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,554 Mod ✭✭✭✭Amirani


    Nobody who scores even an A1 in Ordinary or Higher in the Leaving qualifies as "good at maths". The proof for my assertion rests in the evidence presented by the Government that the maths examinations in the Leaving Cert are marked on a strict bell curve basis. You would need an absolute score on many more tests over the course of your lifetime to make a positive assertion about your maths ability. Given an arbitrary mean and a standard deviation, even if 2 or 3 deviations above the mean does not mean you are naturally good at mathematics, it just proves you are slightly better than the average cohort.

    I must stress again, the maths in the Leaving Cert is marked on a relative, and not absolute basis(bell curve) therefore it cannot give you a full picture about your maths ability. The following proof will suffice to back up my claim. If you get 60-70% in LC Maths, it does not mean you know that percentage of material well, just that you fit with the norm(average).

    http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/2012/07/18/00018.asp

    Ability is also relative, just like the maths exam.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    A2 in higher. But for probabilities and statistics I would probably have failed though.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 25 tomatosauce34


    Ability is also relative, just like the maths exam.

    Do you understand the difference between an absolute and relative score, irrespective of whatever you scored in the Leaving Cert? MIT has a decent explanation about why this system does not give information about your actual natural ability in a subject, just how you scored relative to others. It's a vague, blunt instrument. That is all I am saying. Not enough people are aware of this.

    http://web.mit.edu/fnl/volume/204/winston.html

    “What was class average?” I feel like I have been asked a 1,000 times, and I confess, each time it makes me cringe. It tells me the student is fixated on evaluation, not on the material. It tells me the student is competing with other students, rather than aspiring for a level of knowledge.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,533 ✭✭✭Jester252


    Had an easy time with Maths in school. I use to be a few chapters ahead of the class because IMO they where going to slow. Granted I struggled through English, Irish and French until I dropped to ordinary level Irish and just replace French with Applied Maths (That an old school book)


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,068 ✭✭✭LoonyLovegood


    B3 at Ordinary. Could have gotten the A if I put the work in, but I just wanted to pass it. Didn't see the point in spending loads of time on it when it wouldn't count for college.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,590 ✭✭✭tigger123


    Nobody who scores even an A1 in Ordinary or Higher in the Leaving qualifies as "good at maths". The proof for my assertion rests in the evidence presented by the Government that the maths examinations in the Leaving Cert are marked on a strict bell curve basis. You would need an absolute score on many more tests over the course of your lifetime to make a positive assertion about your maths ability. Given an arbitrary mean and a standard deviation, even if 2 or 3 deviations above the mean does not mean you are naturally good at mathematics, it just proves you are slightly better than the average cohort.

    I must stress again, the maths in the Leaving Cert is marked on a relative, and not absolute basis(bell curve) therefore it cannot give you a full picture about your maths ability. The following proof will suffice to back up my claim. If you get 60-70% in LC Maths, it does not mean you know that percentage of material well, just that you fit with the norm(average).

    http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/2012/07/18/00018.asp

    Did you open an account in order to share this?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,403 ✭✭✭✭Birneybau


    Very goods


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,554 Mod ✭✭✭✭Amirani


    Do you understand the difference between an absolute and relative score, irrespective of whatever you scored in the Leaving Cert? MIT has a decent explanation about why this system does not give information about your actual natural ability in a subject, just how you scored relative to others. It's a vague, blunt instrument. That is all I am saying. Not enough people are aware of this.

    http://web.mit.edu/fnl/volume/204/winston.html

    “What was class average?” I feel like I have been asked a 1,000 times, and I confess, each time it makes me cringe. It tells me the student is fixated on evaluation, not on the material. It tells me the student is competing with other students, rather than aspiring for a level of knowledge.

    This stuff is all fairly obvious I would've thought?

    When you're doing a poll like this that is measuring relative ability then a relative test is perfectly fine.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,639 ✭✭✭Miss Lockhart


    A1 in HL. Always loved maths.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,609 ✭✭✭stoneill


    Nobody who scores even an A1 in Ordinary or Higher in the Leaving qualifies as "good at maths". The proof for my assertion rests in the evidence presented by the Government that the maths examinations in the Leaving Cert are marked on a strict bell curve basis. You would need an absolute score on many more tests over the course of your lifetime to make a positive assertion about your maths ability. Given an arbitrary mean and a standard deviation, even if 2 or 3 deviations above the mean does not mean you are naturally good at mathematics, it just proves you are slightly better than the average cohort.

    I must stress again, the maths in the Leaving Cert is marked on a relative, and not absolute basis(bell curve) therefore it cannot give you a full picture about your maths ability. The following proof will suffice to back up my claim. If you get 60-70% in LC Maths, it does not mean you know that percentage of material well, just that you fit with the norm(average).

    http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/2012/07/18/00018.asp

    well laa de dah!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 25 tomatosauce34


    tigger123 wrote: »
    Did you open an account in order to share this?

    Yes, because not enough people are aware of this fact. It is important to highlight, when you consider the fact employers, students, and teaching staff(possibly) are not made aware of this fact. Ireland ranks below the OECD average in maths ability, so it's important to mention any weaknesses in the system currently operating.

    Our economic recovery depends on the improvement of maths education. Ireland isn't in the protection days of DeValera anymore, we have to compete with people all over the world, who will work for a fraction of the wages Irish people will. Ireland needs to step up the game in this arena. Massively.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,643 ✭✭✭TheBody


    A1 for me. I now do maths for a living!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 240 ✭✭shleedance


    I failed maths at ordinarly level. It's a subject I was hopeless at. Basic arithmetic, conversion, algebra etc. is fine, but put a quadratic equation in front of me and I would sweat beads. Still got into college though via FETAC.

    I probably would be good at it now though, strangely enough. Many aspects of maths that confused me before make much more sense now.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,793 ✭✭✭jimmytwotimes 2013


    got a B3 in higher but i would barely know now if i was screwed out of my change at the shop. haven't used the aul maths since.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 25 tomatosauce34


    This stuff is all fairly obvious I would've thought?

    When you're doing a poll like this that is measuring relative ability then a relative test is perfectly fine.

    No, it's not. Did the teachers mention this fact to you when you were doing the exams? I had to educate myself about this practice. This kind of carry on does not go on the UK University entrance exams(or many other european countries) as far as I know. Infact, some places discourage the practice, such as MIT, which has a very strict policy against it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,734 ✭✭✭Hoop66


    “What was class average?” I feel like I have been asked a 1,000 times, and I confess, each time it makes me cringe. It tells me the student is fixated on evaluation, not on the material. It tells me the student is competing with other students, rather than aspiring for a level of knowledge.

    In the vast majority of cases, especially at a US "college" level, that is exactly what you are doing. You are studying the course in order to pass it. That is the way most education systems work. It might not fit with the ideal of learning for learning's sake but it's the way it is at the moment.

    I got As in A level Maths & Further Maths. Who wants to touch me?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,790 ✭✭✭tritium


    C2 in honours in an exam I didn't do myself justice in :( not too bothered though since I did science in college and now do maths for a living, so I can't be too bad at it (well they haven't fired me yet anyway :) )


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,590 ✭✭✭tigger123


    Yes, because not enough people are aware of this fact. It is important to highlight, when you consider the fact employers, students, and teaching staff(possibly) are not made aware of this fact. Ireland ranks below the OECD average in maths ability, so it's important to mention any weaknesses in the system currently operating.

    Our economic recovery depends on the improvement of maths education. Ireland isn't in the protection days of DeValera anymore, we have to compete with people all over the world, who will work for a fraction of the wages Irish people will. Ireland needs to step up the game in this arena. Massively.

    Well, if they're working for a fraction of the wages maybe they're not so great at maths after all!

    :pac:

    But seriously, it seems like a very specific thing to be focusing in on, in terms of our economic recovery.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 25 tomatosauce34


    Hoop66 wrote: »
    In the vast majority of cases, especially at a US "college" level, that is exactly what you are doing. You are studying the course in order to pass it. That is the way most education systems work. It might not fit with the ideal of learning for learning's sake but it's the way it is at the moment.

    I got As in A level Maths & Further Maths. Who wants to touch me?

    I know it's standard practice for scoring for admission purposes in certain instances, but I am simply highlighting the fact it does not present the full picture, it's a rough way of measuring performance, unless you are given more information about your peers. FWIW, A level and Further Maths are not marked on the basis I described in my first post.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 25 tomatosauce34


    tigger123 wrote: »
    Well, if they're working for a fraction of the wages maybe they're not so great at maths after all!

    :pac:

    But seriously, it seems like a very specific thing to be focusing in on, in terms of our economic recovery.

    This is standard practice in many foreign countries, where wages are nominal. Shure everything you buy nowadays is made in China or Taiwan, where people subsist on slave labour wages so you can have the latest iPhone or whatever.

    When the Government and Industry collude to get involved in the producation of anything, somebody must first suffer greatly at your expense to satisfy your needs. It's a case of the few Plundering the many. This is going slightly Off Topic, so I will try not to detract further from the main point of interest :o


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,223 ✭✭✭Michael D Not Higgins


    A1 in higher level maths and applied maths


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,676 ✭✭✭elefant


    B2 in pass. Don't think I even owned the book- it was very easy apart from a few part C's here and there. Dropped down to pass because honours took up too much time, and I didn't need the points in maths.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,122 ✭✭✭BeerWolf


    Got an A2 well over a decade ago... /woo


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 463 ✭✭Christ the Redeemer


    Not very good, but I am tackling my maths disability using the awesome Khan academy website! I'm even getting the hang of algebra!

    I will never be quick with arithmetic, though.


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