Are the Mocks worthwhile when so many leaks on social media?

John0000

Hi all, After hearing some sixth years on the corridor saying the Mocks are easily available online I decided to check myself. It is frustrating to see they are right. I couldn't believe that I could even see the DEB teacher's copy of a couple of exams from a particular Naas School online. How does that even happen? I have literally seen my exam online. Perhaps it is good students get to know timing and layout but if the topics are so readily available, I feel I am wasting my time correcting papers that were known beforehand. We know they are only fooling themselves if they get the topics beforehand. In my School every student hands up even the exam paper so they can't give to their friends in other Schools or take photos. So returning to my Q at the start are the mocks worthwhile when so many leaks on social media?

RealJohn

Like you said, they’re only fooling themselves. Tell them that and leave it up to them. Not your problem. If their marks are mysteriously better than you expected, just remind them that they’re the ones losing out.

happywithlife

I know someone who either gives last year's mock paper or modifies this year's herself. She has to correct it herself then obviously
They must realise they're only fooling themselves and tbh sometimes I think even knowing the question doesn't help if they haven't listened in class about how to approach their answer and lay it out correctly

spurious

Let's face it, some of them you could give them the books and they would still copy out the wrong part.

I always considered the mocks hugely disruptive and for the level of student I was teaching a terrible waste of time.

Delighted DEB are making any leaks of their sample papers traceable.

mtoutlemonde

I've seen some teachers nearly giving the paper to students to cover themselves. I've also seen a C student getting an A2 as the teacher set the paper, told them what was on paper and corrected the paper. A completely pointless exercise. If some teachers don't see that as wrong it's no wonder students look for questions/papers online. Maybe a few more mocks exams companies and the students not knowing what they were getting until they got it would stop some of it as it would take a very good student a while to get every paper and prepare for it.

r93kaey5p2izun

I don't see any impact on my school from the leaks. Either the students don't care enough to bother looking for them or they do nothing extra to prepare anyway. I would skip mocks for my JC FL classes and my LCAs if I could, but I find them hugely beneficial for my other groups. The biggest influence they have on my students is they give the kick up the backside they need to start them studying. Even if they had the paper and prepared for it in advance, I think the fact they were actually studying and preparing something would be a good learning experience for them. I don't use mock results as any sort of guide to determine levels or expected grades - they don't tell me anything I don't already know - but they are very useful in convincing LC HL Maths hopeless clingers-on that they need to drop.

We have skipped mocks before when we had lengthy closures due to snow and I think it was a negative for most students. They did not start studying until much later. I can give them all the right style of questions to work on in class and at home but until they're faced with the whole course pulled together into an exam paper and no resources to rely on other than themselves, they just don't comprehend the depth of what's required of them in terms of practice and preparation. This is much more the case in Maths in my experience rather than my other subject Biology.

The_Valeyard

Seen a new thing creep in where teachers are correcting their own mock papers instead of DEB or examcraft. Brought it by school management. More work for no pay I guess.

mtoutlemonde

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Seen a new thing creep in where teachers are correcting their own mock papers instead of DEB or examcraft. Brought it by school management. More work for no pay I guess.

I know this is happening in some schools but some papers have been so badly corrected that the teachers end up correcting them anyway.

r93kaey5p2izun

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Seen a new thing creep in where teachers are correcting their own mock papers instead of DEB or examcraft. Brought it by school management. More work for no pay I guess.

Has always been this way in my school.

RealJohn

Siena Lively Graphics wrote: »

Has always been this way in my school.

I’ve always done it too (and I’d prefer to anyway). I also remember that back in the day, some of my teachers did it themselves and some sent them away. I don’t think it’s a new phenomenon at all.

SligoBrewer

I'd assume that all those DEB papers that are being shared are all individually traceable back to the individual teacher/login?

The easy solution is for DEB/Examcraft to start doing multiple papers, or start recycling papers and label them with letters instead of years.

rainbowtrout

Students have been cheating in mocks for as long as mocks existed. DEB/Examcraft have largely been the only two companies in the game. I did my LC over 20 years ago now and back then some of the girls in my class were getting mocks from the lads in the school up the road as they did them a week earlier.

Social media does make it easier. Students that want to cheat will cheat, and those that don't won't.

Dank Janniels

OP how did your own exam get leaked online?

gozunda

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Seen a new thing creep in where teachers are correcting their own mock papers instead of DEB or examcraft. Brought it by school management. More work for no pay I guess.

Or maybe setting kids up for the real world?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbzJTTDO9f4

gar32

Exams are an old way to test for old needs.

Working life has change so much in the last 20 years that a more practical way to find peoples talents is needed.

Let children find what they are good at an focus their studies at that with the rest of the subject scaled as to needs for life.

History, Geography, and Irish are exampled of subject that are nice to learn but don't get you many job's.

A new system of learning needs to be used ASAP.

evolving_doors

gar32 wrote: »

Exams are an old way to test for old needs.

Working life has change so much in the last 20 years that a more practical way to find peoples talents is needed.

Let children find what they are good at an focus their studies at that with the rest of the subject scaled as to needs for life.

History, Geography, and Irish are exampled of subject that are nice to learn but don't get you many job's.

A new system of learning needs to be used ASAP.

History, geography and Irish.
3 immediate skills there
Research, environment and languages.
I think you're mistaking the subjects/education with vocational demands .