Seachtain na Gaeilge le Galway Maths Grinds

Is féile idirnáisiúnta Ghaeilge í Seachtain na Gaeilge atá ar an gceiliúradh is mó dár dteanga agus dár gcultúr dúchais a bhíonn ar siúl in Éirinn agus in go leor tíortha eile gach bliain.

Seachtain na Gaeilge is an international Irish language festival and one of the biggest celebrations of our native language and culture that takes place each year in Ireland and in many other countries.

You are encouraged to use whatever level of Irish you have. It may be more than you realise. Give it a go.

Bain triail aisti – Surprise Yourself!

In that spirit, below are some links to past posts in relation to Irish and maths containing links you may find useful.

Seachtain na Gaeilge shona daoibh!

If you have an interest in speaking or learning Irish you may find some of the following resources useful.

http://snag.ie/en/ is the Seachtain na Gaeilge web site.

abair.ie text to speech synthesiser developed at Trinity College, Dublin. You can enter Irish text and have it “spoken” back to you.

http://www.potafocal.com/Home.aspx provides a dictionary

And http://www.bbc.co.uk/irish provides a range of Irish resources provided by the BBC.

So why not have a go at speaking a few words of Irish. Bain úsáid as do cúpla focal!

Students intending to do their Junior or Leaving Cert maths (or other ) exam through Irish are reminded that their papers must be fully answered through Irish if they want to get the bonus marks. The “cúpla focal” is insufficient for exam purposes. For more on this check out my previous post “Bonus marks for doing papers through Irish“.

Confusion with class through Irish and textbooks in English

english-irish-math-translations.pdf (wordpress.com)

English-Irish math translations: this is a work in progress and I am hoping that people will email corrections to me so that the document can be updated and improved. But with over 1300 maths related words and phrases I think that it may already be of use to students who find themselves doing maths classes through Irish and having textbooks in English.

You can also check with online translators like google translate.

Assessment Arrangements For Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate Examinations 2023

This updated document sets out the adjusted assessment arrangements for post-primary students taking certificate examinations in the 2022/23 school year. While the level of disruption to the learning experience due to Covid-19 reduced in the 2021/22 school year compared to the previous year, these arrangements are designed to take account of the disrupted learning experienced by students. The adjustments have been arrived at through discussions between the Department of Education (DE), the State Examinations Commission (SEC) and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and key stakeholders.

The full document covering all subjects can be accessed here.

The changes for maths, applied maths, physics and science are as shown below.

For senior cycle applied maths

For senior cycle maths

For Physics

For Junior Cycle maths

For Junior Cycle Science

Do you need to open and edit Word Documents but don’t have Microsoft Word?

Leaving Cert Applied Maths students (and probably others) have to submit projects in a Word Document in January, but may not have Microsoft Word on their computer. Do they now have to go out and purchase a copy of Microsoft Word and have it installed on their computer?

Fortunately the answer is no. There are a number of options. Here are a couple that are likely to be most practical for the majority of students.

Word Online

Microsoft offers a free stripped-down version of the Office suite in web app form, and it includes Word.

Just create a free Microsoft Account (if you already don’t have one), upload the DOCX file to OneDrive, and double-click to open it in Word Online. You can then edit the document, collaborate on it with other Word users, and download a modified copy to local storage.

Using Word Online guarantees that you won’t run into problems while viewing and editing DOCX files. Just don’t expect to use the advanced formatting options found in the paid desktop version.

Google Docs

Google Docs is a browser-based word processor similar to Word Online and features complete support for the DOC and DOCX formats. All you need is a Google Account to get started. You can then upload any Word file to Google Drive (which provides 15GB of free storage), open it in Google Docs, and start reading and editing it.

You can also convert the file to Google Docs’s native GDOC format for maximum compatibility and save it back in several popular formats (including DOCX).

Compared to Word Online, Google Docs has a lot going for it with superior performance and functionality.

Leaving Cert Applied Maths Project Brief 2023

The brief for the first Applied Maths modelling project under the new syllabus has been posted on http://www.examinations.ie.

Complete a mathematical modelling project and report based on the following brief:
In many sporting events an object is projected with an initial speed and at an initial angle.
The object then travels in a curved path before it lands. The object may be kicked,
thrown, hit with a club/bat, or it may be that the projected object is the sportsperson
themselves.
To maximise their chance of success, the sportsperson may consider the speed and angle
of the object’s projection, as well as the object’s interactions with any winds present
and/or with the air as the object moves through it.
Select one or more aspects of projectile motion in a sporting context. Model the problem(s) you have selected using the cycle described in The Modelling Cycle.

The full briefing document can be downloaded from here.

Junior Cycle Results Finally Out Today

After a two-month delay, 76000 students who sat their Junior Cycle exams last June will receive their results today.

Over the last few years, the Junior Certificate Examinations have morphed into the Junior Cycle Exams as the State Examinations Committee (SEC) reforms and thinkers with the way things are done. At this stage all the final written exams, apart for English, Irish and Mathematics, are examined at a common level. The familiar grades of A, B, C, etc. has being replaced with those shown in the table below.

There is a different grading system for the project work done earlier in the Classroom Based Assessments (CBAs).

The Junior Cycle CBA grades are as follows:

• Exceptional
• Above expectations
• In line with expectations
• Yet to meet expectations
•  Not reported

Leaving Cert Applied Maths Sample Papers

Leaving Cert Applied Maths sample papers have finally been posted on the SEC website, examination.ie.

The generous element of choice on the old syllabus papers, whereby one had to answer six from ten questions, is gone.

There are eight questions on the new syllabus paper, and all must be answered to obtain maximum marks for both the higher level and ordinary level papers.

If thinking of studying Leaving Cert Applied Maths outside of school you need to be aware of this

If you are thinking of studying applied maths or any other Leaving Cert subject that has a project of some sort to be assessed in addition to the final written exam in June, then you need to be aware of the conditions under which the assignment will count for your final grades.

Leaving Certificate Applied Maths is one of those subjects where a significant percentage of the students sitting it did so after studying by themselves, through home schooling or with the help of a private tutor. Up to now this was not a problem. However, with the change in syllabus to be examined for the first time in June 2023, assessment now includes a project that accounts for 20% of the total marks allocated.

Several students have come to me in recent days enquiring about tuition in this subject. While most are aware that there have been changes to the syllabus, they are not aware of the complications the project brings to the assessment process. I am sure the same applies to other subjects which have recent changes to their syllabi. Unfortunately there are likely to be students across the country who put in over a year’s work before finding that they can not get credit for the project. They will only be able to get marks from the 80% allocated to the final written exam in June.

The Department of Education and Skills has issued a document “Applied Mathematics – Guidance to support the completion of the Modelling Project.” If you read carefully through this 20 page document you will find the lines “The report must be the student’s own work. Authentication procedures will be in place to ensure compliance with this requirement”. But no further clarification.

The Department of Education and Skills has issued another 27 page document “Applied Mathematics Curriculum Specification” which contains the same two lines as above. So still no discernable red flag for home schoolers or independent learners.

The Department has finally produced a sample answer book for the project. Under the heading “Authentication” it contains the following paragraphs.

• The mathematical modelling project and report must be your own individual work – authenticated by yourself, by your teacher and by your school management authority. Authentication is an important part of how the State Examinations Commission ensures fairness to everybody in the assessment of coursework.
• While you may carry out background research relevant to the brief on your own and/or at home, all other parts of your project and your report must be completed under the supervision of your teacher in accordance with the conditions set down by the State Examinations Commission as outlined in Circulars S69/04 and S68/08, which are available at www.examinations.ie.

• Your teacher must supervise your completion of both the project and the report. If your teacher cannot confirm that the project and report are your own work, and that you carried out the project and completed the report under your teacher’s supervision, the State Examinations Commission will not accept your report for assessment. In that case, you will forfeit the marks for this component of the examination. Teachers and the authorities of schools are familiar with the detailed requirements to ensure that practical and project work is valid for examination purposes. You should comply fully with all requests that are made by the teacher and the school in order to enable authentication of your work.
• Responsibility for complying with examination requirements rests with you, the candidate. If the requirements are not followed, your teacher and school will have no choice but to bring this to the attention of the State Examinations Commission.

Section 5 of circular S69/04 states:

All candidates (whether in a recognised school or external) carrying out Practical Coursework associated with any of the subjects outlined in Circular S68/04, on their own or, with private tuition outside a school or centre. As it is not possible to have such work authenticated by a teacher and school principal outside a school setting the Practical Coursework component will not be accepted for assessment.

Circular S6808 says:

The State Examinations Commission will accept Practical Coursework for assessment only
where it has been completed under the following conditions:
• The subject must be timetabled (with timetable available to Commission personnel)
• The school/centre must be available for monitoring by Commission personnel.
• Practical Coursework must be conducted under the supervision of a class teacher with the
work authenticated by the teacher and principal in accordance with this circular.

In March 2017 the State Examinations Commission issued a note that said,

“Home-Schooled/Tutored Students liaising with a Recognised Examination Centre
In order to fulfil the requirements for the submission of valid Coursework for assessment, students and their teachers may be able to liaise with a recognised school, such as the school the student previously attended, or other recognised examination centre. Such schools/centres may, at their discretion, facilitate a candidate in completing the Coursework in that school or centre. The SEC accepts such Coursework for assessment provided that the teacher and the school Principal sign-off and verify that the conditions for the completion of valid Coursework have been fulfilled.

Any questions on these arrangements should be directed to the Practicals Section of the SEC at 090-6442746 or practicals@examinatons.ie .”

On contacting the SEC I was informed that they do not deal directly with students, parents or private tutors. They only deal with the recognised schools.

The bottom line is that if you are thinking of doing Leaving Cert Applied Maths outside the regular school system, then you need the cooperation of the principal and a subject teacher in a recognised school to see if you can come up with a means of satisfying the requirements to have your project assessed for exam purposes. There are no such restrictions in relation to the final written exam in June which accounts for 80% of the total marks that could be allocated.

Leaving Cert Results will be posted on September 2nd

The State Examinations Commission (SEC) will issue this year’s Leaving Certificate results on Friday, September 2nd.

The results are traditionally issued in mid-August, with first round CAO offers made a few days later.

However, this year’s inclusion of additional sittings of the exams for students impacted by bereavement or illness has delayed the final issuing of results.

This year’s date is in line with the 2021 results, which were issued on Friday, September 3rd.

The delayed release date is also on account of the Minister for Education’s commitment that the overall results will be “no lower, in the aggregate” than 2021’s results, adding another stage of checks to the correction process.

The SEC also has to deal with shortages in the numbers of teachers required to fill examiner positions to mark written examinations, and while the correction of scripts has already begun, the SEC is continuing to recruit examiners.

The exam results will be released through the Candidate Self-Service Portal on the SEC website, with further information being sent by email to candidates

Latest Updates on Leaving Cert 2022 Exams

The latest information on exam timetables and exam assessment for this year’s Leaving and Certificate can be found here.

Adjustments to the written papers by subject are here.

Leaving Cert and Junior Cert exams start on Wednesday, June 8th.

Exam time tables are at:

Leaving Certificate Timetable 2022 Leaving Certificate Applied Timetable 2022 Junior Cycle Timetable 2022

Prove 7x 13 = 28. Just Kidding.

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There are good reasons why we follow strict and logical rules in maths. Evaluating expressions involving numbers is one of the basic tasks in arithmetic. But if an expression is complicated then it may not be clear which part of it should be evaluated first, and so some rules must be established.

Things like the “order of operations” may be phrased in simplistic terms such as BIMDAS or PEDMAS etc. to aid memory recall, but the user still needs to know how to implement the rules properly and to be aware of any underlying assumptions. Otherwise they can end up making incorrect assumptions and getting the incorrect answer.

We also need consistency and accuracy in definitions and a common language so that we can follow correct logic and and so that we can discuss problems with others.

Of course this does not just apply to maths, but to many aspects of life in general.