LEAVING CERT DESIGN AND COMMUNICATION GRAPHICS:APPROPRIATELY ENOUGH for a design and communication graphics exam, the papers yesterday afternoon were well laid out and attractive, featuring many familiar images, such as Dublin's convention centre and Belfast's Titanic building.
Students emerging from the exam were “happy enough”, according to teachers.
“The questions at both levels were very well-structured and allowed for student achievement at a variety of levels,” said Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland subject representative John O’Sullivan, a teacher at CBS Mountgarret, New Ross, Co Wexford.
“The range of questions asked was very broad,” added Teachers’ Union of Ireland representative Hugh McGlynn, who teaches at Coláiste Cholmcille, Ballyshannon, Co Donegal.
“Students should have been able to finish the paper on time.”
However, Pat Murphy, design and communication graphics teacher at the Institute of Education, said: “Some questions were wordy and required careful reading of the information given.”
Both the higher- and ordinary-level papers examined the course content in a meaningful way, Mr O’Sullivan added.
The question featuring the Titanic building was “particularly challenging”, Mr Murphy said, while question one in section C about roads drew particular praise from teachers. “It was good and realistic,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
A question on the ordinary-level paper about an MP3 player docking station drew similar positive comments. Section C itself, however, was challenging.
“It required speed as well as knowledge,” Mr Murphy said. “The questions were more time-consuming than expected.”
Some 5,290 students sat the design and communication graphics paper yesterday, previously known as technical drawing. It is an overwhelmingly male choice of subject, with just 560 girls taking the paper yesterday. The written exam was worth 60 per cent of the students’ marks at both levels.