“Leaving Cert Maths: Paper One Review”

Teachers have reported that students were pleased with a relatively simple higher-level maths paper one. Niall Duddy, a mathematics educator at Presentation College Athrenry and a subject ambassador for the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, noted students would have welcomed the complete query on financial maths in the assessment as it doesn’t always make an appearance every year.

Duddy highlighted that recently the distinction between paper one and two has blurred. Consistently, area and volume were included in the first of the two exams, he said. Traditional topics from paper one might also make an appearance in paper two, but there are worries among students that a pleasing paper one may suggest a difficult paper two. The outcome is yet to be determined.

Expressing comfort with the exam’s clarity, Brian Scully, a maths instructor at the Institute of Education, emphasised that it focused on fundamental skills. The curriculum’s interconnected approach benefited students with a wide range of studies, while providing students of all skill levels the chance to garner marks.

He noted how many students would have walked into the exam hall nervous, a sentiment further amplified by last year’s paper. However, their fears should have been assuaged when they saw the initial clear, familiar questions.

The head of maths at Dundalk Grammar School and Studyclix expert, Stephen Begley, commented that though there were some challenges, the paper was reasonable and manageable. The possibility to only complete three out of the four long questions, a policy that has continued since pandemic times, worked in the students’ favour.

According to Jean Kelly, a maths teacher at the Institute of Education, the ordinary level paper was accessible and offered ample opportunities for marks. She commended the clarity the examiner provided in terms of what was expected from the student, which was presented through either useful explanations or overt hints.

According to Ms Kelly, the lack of cumbersome language enabled students to dive directly into the maths, proving especially beneficial for those who understand how to solve problems, but often struggle to initiate the process. She noted that the trapezoidal rule, usually appearing in paper two, made an unexpected showing in paper one. She suggested this could indicate the start of a shift in trends. However, she emphasised that challenging sections were featured less and would only potentially affect those gunning for top scores.

Why not attempt this task at home:

Written for Leaving Cert maths at the higher level, paper one, question 10(b), it involves the modelling of the height of a plant using the function PP(xx), where xx denotes the number of days since the start of the plant’s growth. The function’s derivative is defined as: PP′(xx) = 1∙1 + 2∙73 xx − 0∙078 xx^2. The aim is to identify the range of xx values for which PP′(xx) > 24, providing each value to the nearest whole number.

Written by Ireland.la Staff

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