Leaving Cert physics: ‘This was not student-friendly’

Leaving Cert students on Monday faced a demanding higher level physics paper which tested the most able of students, according to teachers.

Pat Doyle, physics teacher at The Institute of Education, said students who had studied past papers may have been initially thrown by the paper as it looked so different.

“This was not a student-friendly paper,” he said. “The style and presentation was different to previous years. It gave the impression of being difficult and was presented in an unusual manner.”

Mr Doyle said the style of paper may discourage students from taking physics as a Leaving Cert subject.

However, he said if students kept their cool and read carefully through the questions, they would have realised it was not quite as difficult as it first appeared.

Seán Finn, a physics teacher at Coláiste Daibhéid in Cork, was more positive about the paper which he described as “fair, but testing”.

“It was a paper which was straightforward to pass, but challenging for those seeking higher grades,” said Mr Finn, who is a convenor for the Irish Science Teachers’ Association.

While exams over previous years have placed a heavy focus on everyday applications of physics, he said this year’s placed a greater emphasis on historical discoveries.

Students, for example, were asked to apply their physics knowledge to theories developed by figures such as Isaac Newton, James Joule and Lise Meitner.

“For anyone who did their homework and covered the course, they should have been fine,” Mr Finn said.

“There was a lot of writing involved which tested candidates’ scientific literacy,” he said.

Very wordy

Mr Doyle said many questions were very wordy in particular a question which tested candidates on a heat pump in a fridge.

“However, if students had kept their cool and read it carefully they would have seen it was in fact quite a nice question,” he said.

A question on measuring the wavelength of light may have surprised many candidates, he added, given that it appeared on last year’s paper.

“This is the first time in 15 years that a question has been repeated like this on the paper,” he said.

Ger Curtin, a physics teacher with Beneavin College, agreed there were a small number of surprises in format, but they should not have posed a challenge for most candidates.

The ordinary level exam was also accessible for students, he said, and should not have posed any major problems.

He welcomed questions on topical developments – such as the Large Hadron Collider at higher level and the New Horizons spacecraft at ordinary level – as an attempt to make the paper more relevant to students.

Try this at home: From the Leaving Cert higher level physics exam:

Q. The magnets in the Large Hadron Collider operate at a temperature of 1.92K, which is colder than deep space. What is the value of this temperature in degrees Celsius?