High marks for 'student friendly' exam

LEAVING CERT MATHS:IT WAS smiles all round for Leaving Cert maths students at higher level, as paper II proved to be well balanced and student-friendly.

"I'd applaud the State Examinations Commission for setting a paper that actually entices students to stay on the higher-level maths course," said ASTI subject representative Eileen Scanlon, who teaches in the Jesus and Mary Secondary School in Galway.

"A student-friendly paper is not 'dumbing down'. This material is difficult to learn in the first place and it is so important to keep students in the higher-level course."

Jim Healy, a maths teacher in Terenure College, said the majority of his students found this exam easier than paper I. "There were a lot more proofs of formulae asked than usual," he said.

This would have rewarded students who had made "an honest effort", according to Aidan Roantree of the Institute of Education. "The much-anticipated 'perpendicular distance' proof, 'cosine rule' proof and the MacLaurin series of cos were all gratefully received by candidates," he said.

Questions were straightforward overall, according to Mr Healy. "Question four was a bit tricky. Part C required a bit of invention but that's what part C is supposed to do," he said. The probability question, question six, was challenging, which was "good for the students", Mr Healy said.

Fortune favoured the brave who tried question seven. "That looked far worse than it was," said Mr Healy. "The last part looked awful, but it was fine if you did it."

In the second part of paper II, students must choose one question from the final four. Most opt for further calculus, which was question eight. "That was a lot longer and trickier than normal," Mr Healy said. "A lot of students would have struggled to finish it in the time allowed."

Question nine, further probability, proved a better bet, he said. "That could have been finished in 10 minutes or so."