Practical application praised in fair test of ability

THERE were pleasing papers for this subject yesterday and Dublin's Port Tunnel was among the topics that turned up.

John Sullivan of the ASTI and CBS, Mountgarrett, New Ross, Co Wexford, said both papers were fair and structured in a manner that students should have been expecting. He said it was commendable that significant efforts were made to test geometry in an applied manner -- such as with the Port Tunnel at higher level and the bus shelter and whistle at ordinary level.

Mr Sullivan said the paper focused on examining the breadth of the course, with questions pitched at an appropriate level. His views were echoed by a spokesperson at Dublin's Institute of Education, who said that, overall, both teachers and students were happy with the paper.

"The questions were presented in a colourful and interesting way. For example, all questions were presented with a 3D colour graphic and an everyday application, such as the geometry applied in medical devices and Dublin's Port Tunnel.

"The four questions in Section A were reasonable and appropriate in standard at this level, while the three questions in Section B were again appropriate and in line with previous years' exam questions," the spokesperson said.

"The five questions in Section C offered a great choice and were interesting in content," she added.

- Katherine Donnelly

Irish Independent