The dumbed-down Leaving Cert

Permabear

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

The one point you are forgetting/didn't know is that the universities and IT's want more and more people entering. The more people who get in the more funding they get and the more that pass the university exams and graduate the better for the university. From my experience of 3rd level institutions you are basically told to find anyway possible to pass students and if they fail you will be very much questioned on why you couldn't find a way to pass them.

reason vs religion

Ficheall wrote: »

Maths academics are keenly aware of incoming students' inabilities. What would you have them do? Spend half the year revising stuff students should already know, meaning they don't have time to learn as much new mathematics as they otherwise would have? How little mathematics do you want maths students to graduate with?

I've strongly agreed with most of the stuff you've written in this thread, Ficheall, so imagine we can see eye to eye on this! First, you say, "stuff students should already know," yet in top UK universities that would be content on the Further Maths ALevel, stuff more advanced than we cover in Ireland, and in America that would be "precalculus" topics, stuff less advanced than we cover. There isn't a set curriculum that students should have covered. Second, you say half the year, but as the example I gave attempts to show, the "missing" content for a full time maths course can be very quickly developed, and at a level -- and in a way -- far more preferable to university maths.

mirrorwall14

I will just repeat that the complaints from Third Level are likely justified at the lower end of the bell curve due to the marking schemes as outlined before. Students are missing concepts completely from LC because they have sat in classes failing all the way through the LC cycle.

If you are picking up only 10-35% of a curriculum it does not leave you in anyways set up for Third Level no matter how many grinds you get to drag you through the system on attempt marks. If you have only picked up 20-50% of calculus in 2nd level for example, how does that leave you set up for College? Not well.

Permabear

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

I would disagree with designing an education around challenging the top students. The system should be designed around the middle of the road student as this is where most people fit into. It's not fair on the majority to make exams and subjects very hard just to challenge the top few percent. Even undergraduate level should give a fair crack of the whip to all and the it's in post grad that the top few percent should begin to find the real challenge if they wish.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.