Posted on 04/15/2007 2:16:56 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
David Perks, a science teacher for 20 years and head of physics at Graveney School, Tooting, south London, said that the redesign was further evidence of the "dumbing down" of science to create "critically aware" consumers, rather than future scientists.
New science A-levels are being "dumbed down" to such an extent that some courses will demand no prior knowledge of the subject.
Draft syllabuses for chemistry and biology published by one exam board state that the first part of the qualification, the AS-level, can be tackled without the candidate having studied the subject before.
The changes, part of a general redesign of A-levels to reduce the number of external examinations per subject from six to four, have been condemned by science teachers.
They complain that content is being dumped so that the A-level will be accessible to pupils taking the general science GCSE, which has been heavily criticised since it was introduced in September.
Dubbed "pop-science", the GCSE has replaced the study of fundamental scientific principles with debate about "science-related" issues, such as nuclear power, nutrition and the use of drugs. Teachers fear that the A-level is now going the same way.
Although the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA (OCR) syllabuses for chemistry and biology state that they build on grade C in GCSE science, they also add that the qualifications have been designed so they "demand no prior knowledge" of the subjects. This is in contrast to its current specifications which give a breakdown of the information and skills that students need to start the course.
David Perks, a science teacher for 20 years and head of physics at Graveney School, Tooting, south London, said that the redesign was further evidence of the "dumbing down" of science to create "critically aware" consumers, rather than future scientists.
"The first part of the new GCSE is so 'issues led' that pupils will get a shock moving to the second part, let alone moving to A-level. Now they are having to change the AS-level so that the gap between GCSE and A-level is not completely insurmountable.
"The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is looking for ways to make science more 'relevant' because it is told that kids are not interested and they find knowledge too hard. So, steadily but surely, science teaching is becoming about current controversies - covering science at the level of media analysis. So, for instance, there is hardly any maths in physics. You are being asked to teach about forces by applying it to car safety."
Edexcel, which has published outlines of its syllabuses, says that they are a "seamless progression" from the new science GCSE and provide "inspirational, real-life" context. The other big exam board, AQA, has yet to publish its syllabus, though schools will have to teach it from next year.
Changes to A-level sciences will concern university tutors who fear that they could erode vital subject knowledge. Richard Sykes, the rector of Imperial College London, has already criticised the new GCSE, saying that it will disadvantage state school pupils because their private school counterparts are studying traditional single-subject sciences.
A spokesman for OCR said: "The draft specifications support the new criteria announced by the QCA. They have been submitted to QCA for approval and will be subject to changes. The science specifications build on the knowledge, understanding and skill of GCSE science. However, it is recognised that adult learners, embarking on any AS-A-level course who may not have science GCSE, must have the appropriate life skills."
A spokesman for the QCA said: "We will be having discussions about the draft specifications with the exam boards over the next few weeks. One of the main reasons for changes to the science curriculum is to address the decline in the number of young people taking the sciences at A-level."
The initiative to make science more "relevant" has some high-profile supporters among the science community. Prof Michael Reiss, the director of education at the Royal Society, has defended the new GCSE as "providing a genuine education in science".
Moves to make science a more attractive option to pupils also include a proposal for a £300 financial incentive for those choosing a science A-level. The suggestion was made last week by the Council for Industry and Higher Education think-tank.
They blamed schools, run mainly by the Anglican and Catholic churches, for fanning social tension. One teacher alleged they had contributed to the race riots in Bradford six years ago.
Teachers from the second biggest teachers' union accused the schools, which get some of the best results in the country, of being "elite" and socially selective and claimed parents started regular church attendance just to get their children into them......***
Well...
UK: New diploma ‘may leave youths fit for nothing but cheap labour’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1814242/posts
And,
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/CareerManagement/story?id=2582776&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
‘Cover Letters from Hell’ Expose Poor Quality of College Grads
By KATE KLONICK
Oct. 19, 2006 — If recent college graduates apply for a job at Killian Advertising in Chicago, they’d better mind their grammar, spelling and punctuation — not to mention their sentence structure, syntax and diction — lest they end up in the company’s “Cover Letters From Hell” that it posts on its Web site.
Six years ago, Bob Killian, owner and founder of the agency, began posting anonymous excerpts from poorly written cover letters he received from those asking for employment.
The World’s Worst Cover Letters
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2582846
The mistakes ranged from unfortunate omissions (”I am seeking a new position as i have recently been laid” and “I also have a degree English which serves me well in editing text for poor grammer or typos”) to nonsense sentences and topics (”It is through the innovational process, as well as media, that the features of an image can be highlighted and brought to the forefront for the consumer viewing” or “The colors red, blue, and lavender are those that I identify with the most. I feel they accurately describe my personality. I choose red because I turn red when I get embarrassed …”).
Some candidates even try their hand at poetry — one girl rewrote “’T’was the Night Before Christmas,” editing herself and the advertising company into the story and substituting presents for a job.
The goal of putting the letters online, Killian said, is to show job seekers that, “Hello! This is not a recognizable form of communication!”
Ridicule Not the Point
Recently, Killian went through 100 letters that arrived at his agency from applicants requesting jobs and interviews. Of the 100, not one was without some kind of spelling, grammar or syntax error.
At first, Killian thought that a personal approach was best. When one of the letters came from a senior graduating from a fairly prestigious college and did not contain a single sentence without an error, Killian drafted a “gentle note,” advising the student to get some help with his writing.
What Killian got in response was an angry four-page reply.
“That really set him off,” Killian recalls. “We haven’t done it since. We don’t want to have to change the locks on the building.”
Unfortunately, in the 19 years of the company’s existence, the problem seems to be getting worse, which Killian attributes to changes in technology and everyday communication.
“There are a whole lot of people that can’t speak in an authentic voice,” Killian said. “We’re not a generation that writes a lot. Colleges don’t seem to be very demanding.
“Texting is making it worse. We’re getting printed letters with the letter ‘U’ standing for ‘you.’ And this kid wants to be hired in a communications position!”
While the site started off as just a joke within the company, its popularity has helped Killian find business clients and literary agents find him. A small book is currently being compiled with “Cover Letters from Hell” excerpts the company has collected over the years.
Though the site’s commentary pokes fun at applicants, Killian insists that ridicule is not really the point of the compilation.
“Quite a few [potential applicants] are intimidated from applying, or sending a cover letter at all, but all that they should do is exercise some care,” Killian said.
“I think if people just absorb what’s in there, they’ll at least be able to write clearly and express themselves in a meaningful way.”
There's nothing wrong with a little ridicule. The snot that wrote back in such a rage, should have had more ridicule along the way.
You’re welcome!
Oh, the horror of those church going people. How low can one go? Just think of the depths that a parent is willing to sink just to get their child in a school where he will actually learn.
>>>”Schools exist to broaden people’s minds and religions tend to be the antithesis,” he said. “Religions are there to close people’s minds. Schools exist to educate. Religions exist to indoctrinate. It’s a con-trick. As soon as their children get to year six, parents undergo a Damascene conversion to Christianity. They attend church weekly and serve on committees.”<<<
*sigh* Pot, meet kettle, you closed-minded twit. Religion has done far more to open my mind than any mandatory public school that I have attended. Nothing has made to ponder my world or question my past so thoroughly, and yet here are men who would destroy it all no doubt if given the chance.
Someone just doesn’t like religion and has a bit of a superiority complex, to put it mildly.
Got to love those unions. Not!
The religious schools have a good program and it makes the other schools look bad.
What to do? What to do?
Ah....attack the religious schools instead of improving your schools.
Outrageous!
Wow, what terribly bigoted remarks by some of those bitter bitter “teachers”! Typical atheist/secular “open mindedness”!
I broke the code- “indoctrination” is teaching children anything the accusers do not personally believe in. “Open mindedness” is teaching children to question faith with the goal of their believing in nothing beyond the material realm.
“Teachers from the second biggest teachers’ union accused the schools, which get some of the best results in the country, of being “elite” and socially selective and claimed parents started regular church attendance just to get their children into them......***”
This was the goofiest part of the article. If religious schools are closing peoples minds, then how come they are kicking the crap outta the student scores in “government schools”. Oh, and I’d love to tell Mr. Brian Williams of Cardiff that “public/government schools most definitely indoctrinate. The teach us 1)that socialism is great, 2) that government (not individuality) is what makes us great, 3) that global warming is a predominantly mad-made phenomena and it is catastrophic, 4) that Homosexuality is not merely to be tolerated but endorsed, and 5) that natural rights/ Rule of Law is to be subjugated to multiculturalism. How do I know...I’m a public school teacher. Let’s just say I argue a lot with my teaching peers.
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