Are you smarter than a sixteen year old?

[ruud]

There is no doubt that this question is presented differently to your standard probability question on a GCSE paper. However, this topic is supposed to be hard (even A/A* with tree diagrams) and the questions are often not reflective of this. I can understand students and teachers being surprised that this type of question was included on the paper but then again at least they are finally pitching the topic where it should be. I think it's a good, but challenging (for the kids who can normally nail probability) question. The issue is that the students who struggle with algebra will feel cheated out of 3 marks which they normally get every time on these papers.

FWIW, I think it should be out of 4 not 3.

Also, agree with Doobs, children are generally poor at proof. One of the main reasons why I use it as often as I can in my lessons.

[mulhuzz]

Is this really that hard?

Can most 16yo not answer this?

[Doobs]

Is this really that hard?

Can most 16yo not answer this?

Well it was a lot easier when we saw the real question.  The real question looks tough but fine to me.  No point in giving them 17 easy questions. 

I don't know what usual looks like these days though.

[Tal]

Is this really that hard?

Can most 16yo not answer this?

When I read the question, I honestly didn't get what it was asking me to do.

Once that was clear, the actual maths I was fine with.

In a pressure situation, at sixteen, I could well see myself wasting five minutes or so on that question completely needlessly, getting myself into a tizz and doing far worse than I should.

As I said in the OP, I don't think the maths - the thing really being tested - is inappropriate for that level. There need to be questions in there for the A/A* divide, after all.

[Tal]

Is this really that hard?

Can most 16yo not answer this?

Well it was a lot easier when we saw the real question.  The real question looks tough but fine to me.  No point in giving them 17 easy questions. 

I don't know what usual looks like these days though.

I did take it from the independent this morning.

That's what you get for copying, I suppose.

[ruud]

Children are scared by the words 'show that'

[taximan007]

This is why I left school with no qualifications

[Jon MW]

What constitutes a furore?

In my day kids might hang about outside the exam room to whinge about questions with their friends.
Nowadays, a few of them use Twitter or other social media to do the same and national newspapers which are struggling for stories make an online article out of it.
(Personally I prefer videos of cats doing cute things).

Surely the whole point of an exam is to have some tough questions. If everybody could answer all the questions then it wouldn't serve much purpose.


Right, now that that's sorted, the grumpy old git is off for his afternoon nap.

I was thinking much the same about the furore, I guess the definition is something the BBC picks up on?

I know people who have taken various exams in the last few years and that's the impression I get. The first thing they do is go on twitter to discuss/complain.

This kind of question seems entirely appropriate for that level, the only difference to normal seems to be that the BBC decided it was a story.

[Cf]

Here is the actual question:

Click to see full-size image.

lol Tal makes a perfectly reasonable question look bad

What does n²-n-90=0 actually mean? That's what I think is poorly explained. Well, it's not explained at all, is it?

My suggested last sentence tells the person sitting the exam what they are being asked to do. It doesn't give them a helping hand or anything like that; all the work has to come from the student.

This is only GCSE. How many interviews have you sat in where a question is asked without apparent context and the interviewee has no opportunity to ask what is meant, nor will the interviewer ask follow-up, probing questions to steer the conversation towards the area they're interested in?

It means that if you take n then square it, take away n and then take away 90 you get 0.

I don't get the issue? This is standard maths terminology that any GCSE student sitting this paper will be familiar with.