MANY LEAVING Cert students are interested only in what will “come up” on exam papers and have a narrow learning experience, according to an ESRI report.
The research, to be published today, is expected to highlight the increasing dominance of the “grind culture” in Irish education. It also details a classroom culture where teachers and students increasingly focus on past exam papers and exam techniques.
Details are revealed in a discussion paper for the seven university presidents on the Leaving Cert/ Central Applications Office points system. The paper was prepared by a working group chaired by Dr Tom Collins, former president of NUI Maynooth. It will be detailed at tomorrow’s major conference at UCD on the Leaving Cert/CAO system.
The conference will be addressed by Dr Áine Hyland, a former vice-president of UCC, who backed the introduction of a weighted lottery system for college entry in the recent Hyland report.
The Collins paper lists a number of options to replace the current system but warns there is no “perfect” college entry procedure. The options include:
- a lottery system or a weighted lottery above a certain threshold;
- a percentile-based points system where points would be awarded based on the relative performance of the student against the national average;
- the use of supplementary testing with aptitude and other exams;
- the use of school-based assessments/references/personal statements; and
- the introduction of school quotas where each school would be guaranteed a percentage of college places.
Prof Collins says the ESRI research underlines the difficulties associated with the Leaving Certificate. He warns however: “It remains to be seen whether a different assessment model, one which combined continuous assessment, project work and some exams, would necessarily have the same negative effects.”
The report says that from the perspectives both of employers and universities, the Leaving is seen as “too narrow and not sufficiently capable of capturing the broader aspects of learning”.
