Junior Cycle applied technology: A challenging paper for the less academic student

The first-ever Junior Cycle applied technology exam was difficult for the less academic student, according to Eóin Ó hAodha, ASTI subject representative and a teacher of graphics and applied technology at Meánscoil Gharman, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford.

“The three strands that make up the revised applied technology course – principles and practices, technology & society, and energy & control - were well covered in this paper,” said Mr Ó hAodha.

“However, it was a difficult paper for the less academic student. The practical subjects, now referred to as technology subjects, are ones that less academic students were traditionally attracted to. There needs to be space within the academic arena for these students.

“They need to be able to display their specific skills and be equally rewarded for these skill sets in the same way that a student who is good with their head is rewarded.

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“The fact that only 30 per of the overall marks go towards the terminal paper, with 70 per going towards the project, makes the level of difficulty found here very perplexing.”

Mr Ó hAodha also criticised the lack of any marking scheme or any choice on the paper accompanying the paper.

“The technology subjects are subjects where learning or learning by doing is to the fore. But this strand of students had very limited physical contact time - cumulatively not much more than a year - between lockdown and associated Covid-19 disruptions.

“Teachers did their utmost to engage students with highly creative teaching methods and tasks but this could only go so far,” he said.

“When a terminal exam is so specific how is a teacher and their student to know what level of subject matter needs to be covered?”

Try this one at home:

Junior Cycle applied technology, common level

Describe with the aid of sketches any two of the  following manufacturing processes required to manufacture the chassis of the cart from acrylic:

Drilling the holes

Cutting out the overall shape

Rounding the corners

Bending the material.