boards.ie seems to win awards every year for its site. For me it merely highlights the fact that everybody seems to be communicating with each other except teachers – sure what would we have to talk about?

Well here’s an interesting nugget – from the comments below (pasted from the relevant boards.ie pages) it would appear that quite a few teachers are not sure what they are supposed to do with their students’ experiment copies, or how to fill in the green investigation booklets. Remember that if the students don’t tick the relevant experiments in their green booklets then they automatically forfeit 10%.

The site itself is also a very useful resource for getting student feedback on their various exams – these kids tend to have more honesty and intelligence than we (I?) give them credit for:

ok everyone, don’t forget your hardbacks tomorrow!

What you mean “hardback”?

Experiment copy? I nearly forgot! Thanks guys for reminding me

Dunno what he is on about, you don’t get marked on your hardback. Maybe he means just for study purposes?

I’m not sure..

You get marked on your mandatory experiment hardback

Think he means your experiment copy?? I think!

Exactly. DO NOT forget it. If they go to check yours, and you’ve ticked the boxes to say you’ve done it, and its not there, they count that as cheating.

nah you’re not supposed to take it in with you afaik…the supervisors would have reminded us anyways….

They inspect a small % of schools and the hbacks are sposed to be with your science teacher.
You’re meant to bring it in because every year they check a few schools, and if they check your school and they’re not there for inspection you lose your 10%

We’ve been told a million times to bring ’em in tomorrow

Our teacher collected ours at the end of April, she said there was a deadline I had to do about 15 experiments in the space of 3 days!

But the inspectors only come in the summer!
I’ve had to write up a good few today, but that was my own lazy selfs fault..

ive a few only not filled the science teacher said it was ok since half the class or more didnt get em finished either =P

I aint bringing mine in that’d be effort and no one told us to we were given them back and told it was fine?

Gawd im confused i ticked no boxes =S my science teacher is crap we have been reading out of a book all year and havent done any experimanens execpt for the 2 ones you did for 25%

My science teacher told us that we put them in a little pocket in this folder that also has our investigations in it. They just check to see whether you’re telling the truth or not. sure if yer teacher told u its fine then its not yer fault so theyd probably give you the marks

Exam done in 43 minutes. All spaces filled. No blanks. Two questions I couldn’t answer (one on chromosomes, one on the Hoffman Voltameter). Everything else is as far as I know it, correct. Junior Cert science in need of reform? hell yes
I know I’m probably not alone on this front.

have to agree ! left at about 10:30, that exam was an insult to my intelligence

For the green lab books did we have to tick something or do we just do the experiments and hand it up?…..i already have it handed up but didnt tick anything..??

You didn’t tick anything if the project booklet to say you did the experiments. I’m sorry to say if you didn’t, that’s 10% gone, it happened in my school before