Re: Prophet3 VAT change query

In article <500b9ba020ajg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Alan Griffin
<ajg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <500b8e3042see.sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Russell Hafter News <see.sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

[Snip]

When I said "maths", I really meant "arithmetic"!
In the last lot of questions I set, I was told off for
giving a mark for the correct answer. I was told: "that
is maths. We're testing science, so if they get the
answer wrong, you can't deduct a mark! (I hope I never
have to drive over a bridge designed by one of the little
dears!)

Well, I never marked exam papers for the SEB / SQA, but that
was not what we did in school.

I was also criticised for setting a too-difficult
calculation. (It was 380,000/48). I said: "But they've
got calulators". The reply was: Well we can't penalise a
child who forgets to bring his/her calculator to the
exam, so you may only set calculations which they can do
in their heads". (By the way children are incapable of
doing calculations in their heads nowadays!)

Looks odd to me. And I certainly cannot do much in the way
of calculation in my head these days. I use a calculator.

As for watering down the syllabuses: There is
very little chemistry in the chemistry syllabus nowadays.
There aren't any proper balanced equations of reactions -
only "word equations" - Hydrogen + oxygen = water (or
hydrogen peroxide!).

Again, this bears no relation to my own experience. I spent
hours trying to get kids to balance equations for O Grade
and Standard Grade.

The above sounds to me like it may well be the English
equivalent of grade 4 at General level, but certainly not
Credit level. There was never much doubt in my mind that a
Grade 1 at Standard Grade was more demanding than an A at O
Grade, which was always the idea anyway.

I'm a physicist. 15 years ago momentum was in the
syllabus for the Key Stage 3 exams (or sats). It was then
dropped from the syllabus and replaced with "renewable
and non-renewable fuels" for which there are no
calculations, only regurgitation of facts. Momentum was
then dropped from the GCSE syllabus. It is a major
concept of physics.

Well, I have an 'A' at A-level physics, and I even remember
that momentum = Ft. And I like to think I have some
understanding of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, but I
have no idea why momentum should be particularly important -
just that when most lay people talk about momentum they
actually mean kinetic energy.

And I think we should leave it at that. This is totally OT.

--
Russell
http://www.russell-hafter-holidays.co.uk
Russell Hafter Holidays E-mail to enquiries at our domain
Need a hotel? <http://www.hrs.de/?client=en__MT&customerId=416873103>
.

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