I got into Oxford with BBBD (and 2 failed S Levels)
I probably would have worked harder - but I was given a BBB offer - so why bother doing any more? (I am in no doubt that I was part of an affirmative action scheme to get more state school pupils into Oxford - but I did my research and found the college who wanted to work like that, so used the system)
Ah the joys of the 1980s!
I got mediocre A-Levels, BBC, got into Cardiff and then a 1st in Chemistry and Physics. A-Levels are not meaningful in terms of measuring intelligence. It's just a measure of how well one can memorise useless information.
UCC, UWIST or the later incarnation as "Cardiff university"?
Actually one thing I notice about a lot of top faces in the betting game is they only talk about the losers/bad runs.. its normally the wannabes that boast how much they are winning
My work these days is focussing more and more on 'high reliability organizations', which in effect are organizations of excellence based on continual learning. The very first of the five fundamental principles is to focus on failure, not on success. That is, to organize around not failing where to do so would be catastrophic, rather than around achieving the positive goals of the business plan; and to use failure -particularly near misses - as the principle means of learning (for every fatal accident, there are 29 minor ones, and 270 near misses).
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Complex numbers are really interesting.
sqrt(-1) = i
blew my mind when I learnt about it.
Complex numbers are brilliant! Surely one of the best and most exciting discoveries in mathematics for 2000 years (for those non-maths types here, without complex numbers you wouldn't be reading this as electronic computers would not be possible). Aside from the sheer joy of Complex Number Theory, the philosophy and the history behind them is huge fun to read about (and, after a few beers, to debate).
Infinity and infinitesimals may be the most fun mathematical discoveries ever but complex numbers must run them a close third.
Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today
Convicted where? And why, with such a conviction, was he not in prison?
Speaking of AAA grades, I got A*AA in my A-Levels, (which came as a huge shock on the day). All of my subjects were essayed based ones. One thing I do hope, is that if any PBers have kids doing GCSEs and A-levels, and they do well, they don't tell their kids on results day to not celebrate because of 'grade inflation'. You can only work with what you got, and for many people I knew GCSES and A-Levels were a stressful time and not easy peasy.
1) Don't tell them while they're revising, it'll annoy them and if they get in a bad mood they're less likely to revise anyway. 2) Don't tell them on results day. Whatever results they got, this will make them feel even worse on a day they should hopefully be celebrating. 3) Later in life, when they're grown up enough to take it, rub it in. Really rub it in. It is very important indeed to stop people being too big for their boots, or thinking that their parents are useless just because they got worse grades 30 years ago.
The best point for (3) is when they've starting posting to political blogs, I reckon. So, Miss Apocalypse, congrats on your BCC (as adjusted to 1997, the best year to take A-levels in).
I'll stick with A*AA
What's odd is that all the grade inflation assertions appear to always reference kids going to state, and not private schools.
There had already been a lot of grade inflation by 1997 , but in relation to - say - the 1970s present day grades of A* A A might have come out as A B B - though it does depend somewhat on the subjects taken. On the other hand, I was surprised a few weeks ago to discover that pupils about to take the 11plus exam are expected to be familiar with Geometry and Algebra. In the 1960s I did not encounter those subjects at Primary School.
Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today
It begins...
According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.
He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.
I have to admit, I'm worried for Corbyn's mental wellbeing. The way he's acted this week reminds me a bit of Susan Boyle off Britain's Got Talent: it must be very difficult to adjust if you've lived your whole life one way, then are suddenly plunged into such scrutiny and pressure.
Corbyn has been very clear that he holds the media in contempt.
Now he seems a bit shocked that they are returning the compliment.
Steve Reed - Shadow Minister for local government Sarah Champion - Shadow Minister for preventing abuse Emily Thornberry - Shadow Minister for Employment Pat McFadden - Shadow Minister for Europe It appears the shadow ministerial reshuffle is still not over for minor positions, and may still go on a lot longer...
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse I'm very good at integral and differential calculus I know the scientific names of beings animalculous
Actually one thing I notice about a lot of top faces in the betting game is they only talk about the losers/bad runs.. its normally the wannabes that boast how much they are winning
My work these days is focussing more and more on 'high reliability organizations', which in effect are organizations of excellence based on continual learning. The very first of the five fundamental principles is to focus on failure, not on success. That is, to organize around not failing where to do so would be catastrophic, rather than around achieving the positive goals of the business plan; and to use failure -particularly near misses - as the principle means of learning (for every fatal accident, there are 29 minor ones, and 270 near misses).
Yes I would say that was analogous to betting professionally, where the first principle is not to do your bank!
I think most serious gamblers expect to win, so the losses are more newsworthy than the wins
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Wow! We did complex numbers in Fourth Year, and integration was in the A level.
I never had a problem with math - I could never get my head around valency in chemistry for some reason.
I'm colour-blind so I was hopeless at Chemistry. Acid or alkiline? I just guessed! Anyone want me to rewire their house?
Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today
It begins...
According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.
He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.
Having slept on it, and watching the GOP debate again, as well as the focus groups and post debate coverage -
firstly the format was terrible - Jake Tapper lost control, (what were Dana Bash and Hugh Hewitt there for? Trump did a demolition job on Hewitt for the gotcha he asked him on radio), and it seemed designed to cause fights rather than elicit information. It was much inferior to the Fox debate.
It was way too long at 3 hours 15 minutes.
Rubio did good, Christie had his moments, but the key observation is that this is the peak of the Trump phenomenon. He just did not do well this time.
Carly Fiorina made Trump back up, with her response to his comments about her face, and his response that fell flat. That was the big event of the night and she clearly won the debate again. Whether the polls will reflect that time will tell.
She was good on foreign policy. For those who don't know she was chairman of the CIA's external advisory board with a Top Secret security clearance during her time at HP.
The more I think about it, the more, for me, Rubio was the best performer on the night. Huckabee once again showed what a good speaker he is, but his ideas are completely unacceptable to voters like myself.
Christie showed his heft in more than just pounds, but is carrying too much baggage to make an impact on the race.
Walker did enough to prevent the death of his campaign, which is important because the mainstream candidates need to survive until The Donald implodes. Carson is done, Carly will be a passing phenomenon if anything (her greatest hope IMO is to be the VP choice).
I really think, after two debates, that Jeb simply does not have what it takes. He is bright and experienced enough, and his policies would be fine overall - it is what Trump called out, a lack of energy, but also a lack of carrying the impact what he says should carry.
Not sure about Carly long term, hence my polls comment. She attacks with a scalpel rather than a sledge hammer. She's good on the facts.
It's intriguing how Trump's low energy comment has hung around Bush's neck.
Speaking of Trump, I'm not sure if he'll implode or the folks will just get tired of his schtick, and he'll pick up his ball and go home, which I think might be starting to happen. He's a one trick pony.
Carson seems like the epitome of a funeral director in a small town.
One quote sums it up: " He had ‘come to understand in the last few weeks, quite how shallow the attachment of the left is to principles which I thought defined it.’"
Steve Reed - Shadow Minister for local government Sarah Champion - Shadow Minister for preventing abuse Emily Thornberry - Shadow Minister for Employment Pat McFadden - Shadow Minister for Europe It appears the shadow ministerial reshuffle is still not over for minor positions, and may still go on a lot longer...
"Shadow Minister for preventing abuse"
That's great. Much better than Miliband's misandry.
I got into Oxford with BBBD (and 2 failed S Levels)
I probably would have worked harder - but I was given a BBB offer - so why bother doing any more? (I am in no doubt that I was part of an affirmative action scheme to get more state school pupils into Oxford - but I did my research and found the college who wanted to work like that, so used the system)
Ah the joys of the 1980s!
I got mediocre A-Levels, BBC, got into Cardiff and then a 1st in Chemistry and Physics. A-Levels are not meaningful in terms of measuring intelligence. It's just a measure of how well one can memorise useless information.
UCC, UWIST or the later incarnation as "Cardiff university"?
If you're flying American Airlines, my sympathies. They have a ground stop in place for Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago O'hare and Miami due to computer problems.
Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today
It begins...
According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.
He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.
Lets not get so excited about migrants to Germany having to wait 8 years before getting citizenship then eh?!
I've never mentioned that, if that's meant to be a dig at me!
It'd be good to know why he was allowed to remain in Germany after he was released. You'd think he'd be the sort of person who'd be on the first flight out of the country.
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Wow! We did complex numbers in Fourth Year, and integration was in the A level.
Integration was actually in some old O-level syllabuses (the hardest O-level question I can recall digging out was one that needed you to integrate to find the volume of revolution of a region formed by the intersection of two parabolas, rotated about the x-axis) and I saw it pre-A level. But that varied a lot from syllabus to syllabus.
When we did surds in the first year of Maths A-level, a couple of Chinese students [properly Chinese, they'd transferred to the UK for the latter stages of education] revealed they'd learnt them at primary school.
One of the last things I did as an FE lecturer was teaching A-level further maths to a group of Chinese transfer students (paying good bucks to the college), who'd replaced the Malaysian transfer students they'd had previously (and were famous for all taking Statistics A-levels and almost all of them every year getting near-100%.)
The kicker is that these Chinese kids were 14-15 years old, and mostly here to learn English. And they'd done a lot of the A-level (including the Further Maths I was teaching them) before. Very different style of teaching. Interestingly, though, they were a lot weaker on statistics and data handling, something they hadn't had much emphasis on previously.
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse I'm very good at integral and differential calculus I know the scientific names of beings animalculous
Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse I'm very good at integral and differential calculus I know the scientific names of beings animalculous
Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today
It begins...
According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.
He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.
Lets not get so excited about migrants to Germany having to wait 8 years before getting citizenship then eh?!
I've never mentioned that, if that's meant to be a dig at me!
It'd be good to know why he was allowed to remain in Germany after he was released. You'd think he'd be the sort of person who'd be on the first flight out of the country.
Well, look at how long it's taken the UK to deport individuals we don't want to have in the country.
I've never mentioned that, if that's meant to be a dig at me!
It'd be good to know why he was allowed to remain in Germany after he was released. You'd think he'd be the sort of person who'd be on the first flight out of the country.
Pretty sure it wasn't aimed at you but at a couple of others who have been arguing that we won't be affected in the UK by the large number of migrants entering Germany because they won't be eligible for German citizenship for 8 years. By which time they will be settled in Germany and won't want to move to the UK - or so the argument goes.
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse I'm very good at integral and differential calculus I know the scientific names of beings animalculous
Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
the very model of a modern major general
I almost had to sing it. Every Speech Day at school we put on a Gilbert and Sullivan performance. In my memory it always seemed to be either Pinafore or Pirates.
I got into Oxford with BBBD (and 2 failed S Levels)
I probably would have worked harder - but I was given a BBB offer - so why bother doing any more? (I am in no doubt that I was part of an affirmative action scheme to get more state school pupils into Oxford - but I did my research and found the college who wanted to work like that, so used the system)
Ah the joys of the 1980s!
I got mediocre A-Levels, BBC, got into Cardiff and then a 1st in Chemistry and Physics. A-Levels are not meaningful in terms of measuring intelligence. It's just a measure of how well one can memorise useless information.
UCC, UWIST or the later incarnation as "Cardiff university"?
Back when I was at uni, I regularly met people who had seven or more As. Plus S-levels or equivalents, of course. I hasten to add this was not normal at all from my school background! I think the most I ran in to was a chap who went to the same church as me and had thirteen As. If he took them under the modern system, he'd no doubt have achieved thirteen A*s instead. He was quite bright, but as he pointed out, the "A count" wasn't a great measure of intelligence: said more about the school he went to and his capacity and organisation to do large amounts of work. There were other people with three As who were clearly sharper than him, just had more of a life during sixth form!
(When you have people like that, who are almost effortlessly stringing off near-100% scores in their exams, what it really tells you is that they're taking exams which are a level too easy for them and they might have benefited from going on to harder material. "Almost effortlessly" meaning that had to do the work to learn the material, but the mental effort required to master it wasn't stretching them: bit like Mo Farah running a 40 minute 10k. In terms of challenging him it's easy peasy, but would still take 40 minutes of time and a bit of physical effort. Unlike French high-schools, though, many British schools are not well-equipped - essentially, staffed - to tackle stuff much beyond A-levels. Students who have to take a "harder than A-level" exam for Oxbridge or other university admission often report it's difficult to get school support with it.)
This is what the S-level is for.
Which has died a death, mostly. The S-levels were largely supplanted by the Advanced Extension Awards, which I didn't feel were anywhere near so taxing, and those have now been withdrawn completely! There is still the STEP exam in maths.
But a lot of sixth forms don't have the staff to teach any higher than A-level. (In fact, plenty of the A-level teachers, particularly in shortage subjects, are often barely qualified to do so. One of my ex-colleagues teaching A-level maths was a psychology graduate, for instance: she knew the A-level material, particularly the stats because she'd done a lot of the quantitative side of psychometry in her degree, but didn't like teaching the second year pure maths. If she'd had a student who'd been told they had to pass a STEP exam, then she'd have been pretty much zero use to her.)
Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today
It begins...
According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.
He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.
Lets not get so excited about migrants to Germany having to wait 8 years before getting citizenship then eh?!
I've never mentioned that, if that's meant to be a dig at me!
It'd be good to know why he was allowed to remain in Germany after he was released. You'd think he'd be the sort of person who'd be on the first flight out of the country.
It wasn't a dig at you at all, but there have been people on here saying it was nothing to worry about that Germany wanted to take 800k migrants, as it takes 8 years to become EU citizens and by then they'd be assimilated to German culture.. a preposterous argument from short termists and dreamers I'd say
I got into Oxford with BBBD (and 2 failed S Levels)
I probably would have worked harder - but I was given a BBB offer - so why bother doing any more? (I am in no doubt that I was part of an affirmative action scheme to get more state school pupils into Oxford - but I did my research and found the college who wanted to work like that, so used the system)
Ah the joys of the 1980s!
I got mediocre A-Levels, BBC, got into Cardiff and then a 1st in Chemistry and Physics. A-Levels are not meaningful in terms of measuring intelligence. It's just a measure of how well one can memorise useless information.
UCC, UWIST or the later incarnation as "Cardiff university"?
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse I'm very good at integral and differential calculus I know the scientific names of beings animalculous
Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
Pirates of Penzance. I sing it (*) to my son to get him to sleep. I started learning the 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' to say to him, but progress has recently stalled.
(*) My singing's so good that it's been mentioned in a published book. Something about a cat being strangled.
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse I'm very good at integral and differential calculus I know the scientific names of beings animalculous
Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse I'm very good at integral and differential calculus I know the scientific names of beings animalculous
Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
Pirates of Penzance. I sing it (*) to my son to get him to sleep. I started learning the 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' to say to him, but progress has recently stalled.
(*) My singing's so good that it's been mentioned in a published book. Something about a cat being strangled.
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse I'm very good at integral and differential calculus I know the scientific names of beings animalculous
Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
Pirates of Penzance. I sing it (*) to my son to get him to sleep. I started learning the 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' to say to him, but progress has recently stalled.
(*) My singing's so good that it's been mentioned in a published book. Something about a cat being strangled.
Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today
It begins...
According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.
He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.
Yep. This has absolutely nothing to do with the current migrant crisis. Mind you, you do have to ask why a man convicted of attempted murder associated with terrorist activitieswas then allowed to stay in the country after he had completed his sentence?
I got into Oxford with BBBD (and 2 failed S Levels)
I probably would have worked harder - but I was given a BBB offer - so why bother doing any more? (I am in no doubt that I was part of an affirmative action scheme to get more state school pupils into Oxford - but I did my research and found the college who wanted to work like that, so used the system)
Ah the joys of the 1980s!
I got mediocre A-Levels, BBC, got into Cardiff and then a 1st in Chemistry and Physics. A-Levels are not meaningful in terms of measuring intelligence. It's just a measure of how well one can memorise useless information.
UCC, UWIST or the later incarnation as "Cardiff university"?
Cardiff University.
Welshowl and I were both at UCC in the mid 80s.
We're getting close to taxi filling status! Think anyone else will emerge and we can get into minibus territory?
Actually it feels like there's more than a fair share on here with connections to the Principality.
Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today
It begins...
According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.
He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.
Yep. This has absolutely nothing to do with the current migrant crisis. Mind you, you do have to ask why a man convicted of attempted murder associated with terrorist activitieswas then allowed to stay in the country after he had completed his sentence?
And after the threatened the judge and police after he was released in 2013, at least according to the DT story.
Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway.
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Wow! We did complex numbers in Fourth Year, and integration was in the A level.
I never had a problem with math - I could never get my head around valency in chemistry for some reason.
I loved Physics, but chemistry was dry and bookish to me.
When I did my chemistry A-level we had one inorganic chemistry textbook (over 700 pages), one organic chemistry textbook (also 700+ pages) and another more recent textbook that was about 400 pages. And we had to do a huge amount of memorising. Though by the time I took the A-levels, the thick textbooks - which were for the syllabus two decades before me - were no longer entirely on-syllabus. Quite a lot had been taken out and a bit had been put in; we had the newer textbook to cover the gaps, but there had clearly been a reduction of the syllabus content. Even then, it felt rather like memorising a telephone directory!
Modern A-level chemistry textbooks that I've seen seem to cover the entire syllabus in about 200 pages, so I have the feeling even more has been cut. (Quite possibly the maths. Although it wasn't explicitly on-syllabus our teacher liked showing us a very basic case of solving the Schrödinger equation for instance. I have the feeling, since he taught from old notes he'd prepared decades earlier when he started teaching, that he did this because once upon a time it had been on the syllabus! Now that it's assumed A-level students know no calculus, they wouldn't be able to perform the necessary integration. Similarly A-level physics students are not expected to be able to perform integration and differentiation, which is of course a nonsense if they want to go on and study physics at any higher level.)
Hurst, I understand from years gone by on here, that you are a fellow former maths teacher.
I actually collect old textbooks. If you happened to have anything else in your connection let me know, especially if your other half is keen that you "have a clear out"!
FWIW there is actually very little "mathematics discovered within the past 70 years" in any school-level syllabus in Britain. One of the few things that is in their at GCSE is new forms of data presentation, including the box plot: invented by Tukey, of FFT fame! (Like JJ I think that FFT would be a great addition to the high school syllabus, and some Further Maths syllabuses even have a numerical methods module, but sadly FFT doesn't feature.)
The other aspect where there has been new material added is the "Decision and Discrete" modules at A-level, which includes relatively recent (within our lifetime) algorithms.
Other things have been surprisingly static. The big shift in Applied Mathematics (i.e. Classical Mechanics) teaching was in the 1970s, when they switched to a "modern" vector notation. But this wasn't a new idea... and the notation they used was actually the i, j, k notation borrowed from Hamilton's quaternion notation back in the 1840s!
Alas, my old maths text books went a few years ago in one of Herself's mandated clearouts - I had got rid of just about all the fiction and they were the last bit of "Fat" to trim before I hit the bone of history books and personal papers. So alas I have none than I can give you.
Mr Llama, I feel sorry for your loss. I hope Herself spares the essential reading. Is she, perchance, encouraging you to switch to a Kindle?
Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today
It begins...
According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.
He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.
Yep. This has absolutely nothing to do with the current migrant crisis. Mind you, you do have to ask why a man convicted of attempted murder associated with terrorist activitieswas then allowed to stay in the country after he had completed his sentence?
And after the threatened the judge and police after he was released in 2013, at least according to the DT story.
Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway.
"Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway"
Ah, the thread where I get to say that I got three As in maths, chemistry and physics. That was when there was a quota for As. I also sat the S level papers in maths and chemistry without having been taught the extra syllabus - and failed both by some margin. I agree that you can basically knock a grade off today's sixth formers to equate to a 1980s basis.
To be fair, as someone who has just finished his A-levels, the Tories are starting to make them harder again. They're putting all a-level exams to be sat at the end of the two years and restricting resits. As someone who did maths & further-maths, that'd mean 12 maths based exams at the end of the 2 years. So I think the days of grade inflation just might be dead.
Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today
It begins...
According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.
He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.
Yep. This has absolutely nothing to do with the current migrant crisis. Mind you, you do have to ask why a man convicted of attempted murder associated with terrorist activitieswas then allowed to stay in the country after he had completed his sentence?
And after the threatened the judge and police after he was released in 2013, at least according to the DT story.
Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway.
"Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway"
You'd like to think not!
No, you would know not. The idea that terrorists and murderers are in any way typical of even a fraction of 1% of the migrants is just ludicrous.
While it's still vaguely current, this is actually a good effort as Downfall parodies go. It would be easy to make this too heavy-handed but there's quite a lot of wit in it.
Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today
It begins...
According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.
He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.
Yep. This has absolutely nothing to do with the current migrant crisis. Mind you, you do have to ask why a man convicted of attempted murder associated with terrorist activitieswas then allowed to stay in the country after he had completed his sentence?
And after the threatened the judge and police after he was released in 2013, at least according to the DT story.
Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway.
"Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway"
You'd like to think not!
No, you would know not. The idea that terrorists and murderers are in any way typical of even a fraction of 1% of the migrants is just ludicrous.
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse I'm very good at integral and differential calculus I know the scientific names of beings animalculous
Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
I grew so rich that I was sent By a pocket borough into Parliament I always voted at my party's call And I never thought of thinking for myself at all No, he never thought of thinking for himself at all I thought so little, they rewarded me By making me the Ruler of the Queen's Navy He thought so little, they rewarded he By making him the Ruler of the Queen's Navy
To be fair, as someone who has just finished his A-levels, the Tories are starting to make them harder again. They're putting all a-level exams to be sat at the end of the two years and restricting resits. As someone who did maths & further-maths, that'd mean 12 maths based exams at the end of the 2 years. So I think the days of grade inflation just might be dead.
For maths and further maths it may have the effect of raising grades - generally the second year work builds on the first year. The AS exams feel "easy" to someone who's done the extra year (which is why so many students resit their AS units anyway) so they should score higher marks than they would have done had they taken those exams the year before. In subjects where the second year is not a pure extension of the first year (because it considers different topics/themes) then the extra revision pressure may have a downward pressure on grades, but I'd expect that to be worse for humanities rather than technical subjects.
Doing all your exams in one year is perfectly manageable and hasn't scarred old fogies for life. For us, lower sixth was a time of less pressure - was probably the most "fun" year of school in some ways. I actually feel worse for modern students who have continual exam pressure from year 11 to year 13.
It would be sensible to cut down the number of exams now they are being done in one sitting. When maths and further maths first went modular, there were four not six exams for each.
To be fair, as someone who has just finished his A-levels, the Tories are starting to make them harder again. They're putting all a-level exams to be sat at the end of the two years and restricting resits. As someone who did maths & further-maths, that'd mean 12 maths based exams at the end of the 2 years. So I think the days of grade inflation just might be dead.
Trouble with the new system is that you still have to do an exam after your first year which doesn't contribute to your final grade.
I've never mentioned that, if that's meant to be a dig at me!
It'd be good to know why he was allowed to remain in Germany after he was released. You'd think he'd be the sort of person who'd be on the first flight out of the country.
Pretty sure it wasn't aimed at you but at a couple of others who have been arguing that we won't be affected in the UK by the large number of migrants entering Germany because they won't be eligible for German citizenship for 8 years. By which time they will be settled in Germany and won't want to move to the UK - or so the argument goes.
The way things are going, the EU will have ceased to exist by then. If it hasn't we'll have been long gone.
I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.
The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."
I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.
The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."
Thank god, Labour are not in power.
Hollande is stymied by the fact that Le Pen is leading the polls in the first round (although she wouldn't win the run off)
One of my friends failed her AS year and re-did it, and by no means did she find the exams 'easy'. I think the resitting is balanced out by the increase in the amount of exams taken. I don't think incidentally though, that doing exams all in one year will scare people for life. What might is having those of the older generation lord it over the my generation about their grades.
I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.
The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."
Thank god, Labour are not in power.
If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
To be fair, as someone who has just finished his A-levels, the Tories are starting to make them harder again. They're putting all a-level exams to be sat at the end of the two years and restricting resits. As someone who did maths & further-maths, that'd mean 12 maths based exams at the end of the 2 years. So I think the days of grade inflation just might be dead.
Trouble with the new system is that you still have to do an exam after your first year which doesn't contribute to your final grade.
You don't have to, and not all schools will.
Oddly, even under the system that's just gone, not all schools made students take the AS modules in Year 12. Some "high performing" schools have for many years just got all students to take all exams - with some exceptions e.g. for further maths students - at the end of Year 13, on the grounds that a year's extra maturity will ensure better results, and it also salvages about two months of extra teaching time from the year 12 exam period. That was very much the exception rather than the rule, admittedly.
Where there seems to have been a bit of a botch made, is that universities would still like students to have something more than GCSEs to show them at admissions time (though the system worked fine in my day without it, and there is statistical evidence that AS results generally add little information compared to GCSE grades). And schools still want kids to take 4 subjects then drop their weakest or least important one, which requires a way of certifying one year's worth of learning. So a lot of schools are still taking the AS exams as a separate qualification, which seems a bit of a waste.
I also think exam pressure for students starts much earlier than year 11 - arguably it begins in year six, with SATs. I remember those where the first exams I did which were treated as literally life and death by my primary school.
I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.
The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."
Thank god, Labour are not in power.
If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
If men come and settle down and establish a life for themselves, it wouldn't be a surprise for partners to join them from abroad later. That would be quite normal in terms of migration patterns. It's likely that social networks for marriage etc will persist throughout all the migratory disruption - the internet makes that easier than ever.
I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.
The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."
Thank god, Labour are not in power.
If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
One of my friends failed her AS year and re-did it, and by no means did she find the exams 'easy'. I think the resitting is balanced out by the increase in the amount of exams taken. I don't think incidentally though, that doing exams all in one year will scare people for life. What might is having those of the older generation lord it over the my generation about their grades.
Lording it so to speak would not be right, but I doubt I'm alone on here in having interviewed folk for a job and just not been in a position to take grades seriously anymore. It's been all well and good the educational establishment egged on and for all I know cajoled by Govt to "produce" better grades for 30 odd years so ministers could give "good news" and teachers and pupils/students ( not their fault mind) feel good, if the end result is that crusty old sods like me who are the eventual targets of the grading system so to speak increasingly think it's all a load of crap.
@MyBurningEars Really? One of our family friends is a teacher, and that's pretty much what she told us. The system makes more sense without any first year exam, really. I also think the whole idea of taking 4 subjects and then dropping one is a stupid idea. Many people did subjects they didn't really care for as a result. The time could have been better spent revising the three other subjects.
Simon knows exactly what he is doing here, he is causing media damage with minimal effort. He knows the second he poses with the only UKIP MP just days after their new leader, exactly what message he is sending out. The question really is whether or not he just sending the warning or if there have been real discussions - it is clear he doesn't give a damn about secrecy.
I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.
The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."
Thank god, Labour are not in power.
If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.
The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."
Thank god, Labour are not in power.
If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.
The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."
Thank god, Labour are not in power.
If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
If men come and settle down and establish a life for themselves, it wouldn't be a surprise for partners to join them from abroad later. That would be quite normal in terms of migration patterns. It's likely that social networks for marriage etc will persist throughout all the migratory disruption - the internet makes that easier than ever.
Although if it's all unmarried 23 year old men, then they will be competing for the attentions of unmarried females. If they particularly want a Muslim bride, then the changing demographics will suddenly allow female Muslims in Europe a lot of power. Alternatively, if they are not fussy (which I suspect most 23 year old men are not), then they are likely to be giving up their Islamic principles.
There is already a shortage of monumentally stupid Islamic brides in this country, as demonstrated by the (completely unsatiated) desire of the also monumentally stupid would be Islamic warriors to get Jihadi brides in Syria.
One of my friends failed her AS year and re-did it, and by no means did she find the exams 'easy'. I think the resitting is balanced out by the increase in the amount of exams taken. I don't think incidentally though, that doing exams all in one year will scare people for life. What might is having those of the older generation lord it over the my generation about their grades.
Lording it so to speak would not be right, but I doubt I'm alone on here in having interviewed folk for a job and just not been in a position to take grades seriously anymore. It's been all well and good the educational establishment egged on and for all I know cajoled by Govt to "produce" better grades for 30 odd years so ministers could give "good news" and teachers and pupils/students ( not their fault mind) feel good, if the end result is that crusty old sods like me who are the eventual targets of the grading system so to speak increasingly think it's all a load of crap.
Tbh, I think it would be an accurate description. For a very long time now, the people who have faced the brunt of the criticism for the failings of the education system have been students - who are in a no-win position. Do well? You're grades are worthless anyway. Do badly? Wow, you must be utterly dumb. Go to university? Who cares, everyone gets in anyway. Do a vocational qualification? That's criticised by employers too. Meanwhile there is always someone of the 80s, 70s, generation - arguably a generation of more opportunity than what many people my age will face - who will say how great their grades were, how hard their exams were etc. I've heard on comment sections, and on blogs a million anecdotal stories like the above about someone who on paper has good/decent grades but who doesn't impress in the job interview. The way many young people are talked about today by some I'm honestly shocked they know any. If the education system is so rubbish, criticise the politicians who actually created it, rather than the students who can only work with what they have.
@MyBurningEars Really? One of our family friends is a teacher, and that's pretty much what she told us. The system makes more sense without any first year exam, really. I also think the whole idea of taking 4 subjects and then dropping one is a stupid idea. Many people did subjects they didn't really care for as a result. The time could have been better spent revising the three other subjects.
You lucky thing Ms Apocalypse, I am apparently devoting my thousandth post to you.*
I know of only a few schools in London which ignore AS levels but I imagine it is going to become much more common. One of the things that frustrated me as a teacher/lecturer - most of the third term in the first year was lost, for practical purposes. Another was that the sense of community spirit in sixth form was much diminished since my day: when Year 12 was not an externally examined year, they would often be at the heart of school life. Running activities for younger children, voluntary work in the community, school productions, debating competitions, sport, music, that kind of thing. Once Year 13 was really up and running - marked by the sending of university applications - then that activity was cut down, but by then the new Year 12s would be running the shows so there was someone to pass the baton to. In many ways Year 12 was a good opportunity to broaden your experience of the real world and polish up your CV before uni. That has died off a lot now, very few colleges still give a regular slot (for some reason it was often Wednesday afternoons!) to extracurricular activities for Year 12.
You are of course correct that exam pressure starts as early as 11! But a bit of pressure, applied at the correct time (by which, I don't mean 11!) is no bad thing. It's the continual pressure of Year 11, Year 12, Year 13 which worries me.
* Thousandth. Bloody hell. Bear in mind that there were very many comments on Disqus, and goodness knows how many on the custom commenting system PB had before that, and I am finally being held to account for the time spent, or wasted, here. That list of "all those other things I have been meant to be doing" over the years only grows longer!
Ah, the thread where I get to say that I got three As in maths, chemistry and physics. That was when there was a quota for As. I also sat the S level papers in maths and chemistry without having been taught the extra syllabus - and failed both by some margin. I agree that you can basically knock a grade off today's sixth formers to equate to a 1980s basis.
Comparing to the 80s is probably two grades by now. It was about one grade when I took them over 10 years ago.
Apparently Jeremy Corbyn has abolished the post of Shadow Immigration minister.
It appears that a large number of Labour shadows haven't got any people to shadow, and a large number of Conservative ministers haven't got anyone to shadow them.
Apparently Jeremy Corbyn has abolished the post of Shadow Immigration minister.
It appears that a large number of Labour shadows haven't got any people to shadow, and a large number of Conservative ministers haven't got anyone to shadow them.
Does that make the shadow cabinet the phantom cabinet?
@MyBurningEars Really? One of our family friends is a teacher, and that's pretty much what she told us. The system makes more sense without any first year exam, really. I also think the whole idea of taking 4 subjects and then dropping one is a stupid idea. Many people did subjects they didn't really care for as a result. The time could have been better spent revising the three other subjects.
You lucky thing Ms Apocalypse, I am apparently devoting my thousandth post to you.*
I know of only a few schools in London which ignore AS levels but I imagine it is going to become much more common. One of the things that frustrated me as a teacher/lecturer - most of the third term in the first year was lost, for practical purposes. Another was that the sense of community spirit in sixth form was much diminished since my day: when Year 12 was not an externally examined year, they would often be at the heart of school life. Running activities for younger children, voluntary work in the community, school productions, debating competitions, sport, music, that kind of thing. Once Year 13 was really up and running - marked by the sending of university applications - then that activity was cut down, but by then the new Year 12s would be running the shows so there was someone to pass the baton to. In many ways Year 12 was a good opportunity to broaden your experience of the real world and polish up your CV before uni. That has died off a lot now, very few colleges still give a regular slot (for some reason it was often Wednesday afternoons!) to extracurricular activities for Year 12.
You are of course correct that exam pressure starts as early as 11! But a bit of pressure, applied at the correct time (by which, I don't mean 11!) is no bad thing. It's the continual pressure of Year 11, Year 12, Year 13 which worries me.
* Thousandth. Bloody hell. Bear in mind that there were very many comments on Disqus, and goodness knows how many on the custom commenting system PB had before that, and I am finally being held to account for the time spent, or wasted, here. That list of "all those other things I have been meant to be doing" over the years only grows longer!
I think that the pressure applied in year Six is way too much. It feels very sudden, when seemingly there was nowhere near that kind of pressure previously. I agree though that from Year 10 onwards really, the exam pressure is conterminous and feels very stressful - almost a 'end of the world' situation. I'd love a scheme where between Year 10 - 13, companies would come into schools and give students some form of work experience - with those that really impress potentially having long-term opportunities to be more involved/work for the company.
I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.
The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."
Thank god, Labour are not in power.
If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
Good job Socrates is no longer here to reply
I was just teasing LadyBucket :-)
@rcs1000 You posted a comment on a recent thread that you are certain Schengen will be back in operation in March. Did you only have in mind a winter season slowing the number of migrants/refugees, or was it something more permanent?
I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.
The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."
Thank god, Labour are not in power.
If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
If men come and settle down and establish a life for themselves, it wouldn't be a surprise for partners to join them from abroad later. That would be quite normal in terms of migration patterns. It's likely that social networks for marriage etc will persist throughout all the migratory disruption - the internet makes that easier than ever.
Although if it's all unmarried 23 year old men, then they will be competing for the attentions of unmarried females. If they particularly want a Muslim bride, then the changing demographics will suddenly allow female Muslims in Europe a lot of power. Alternatively, if they are not fussy (which I suspect most 23 year old men are not), then they are likely to be giving up their Islamic principles.
There is already a shortage of monumentally stupid Islamic brides in this country, as demonstrated by the (completely unsatiated) desire of the also monumentally stupid would be Islamic warriors to get Jihadi brides in Syria.
In the case of the parents of a couple of my old schoolfriends, it was a case of a Pakistani man marrying an English woman, then expecting them to essentially convert to Islam, in deed if not officially.
For one, the hypocrisy was massive. Despite the fact that he had married an Enslighwoman, he forbade his children from marrying one.
It got much worse than that, but I won't go further.
On the other hand, I know a fair few Muslims who are very well integrated into society, and lots (including Mrs J) who are from a Muslim country but are not practising the religion.
I've also made a little money working for a successful company CEO'd by an immigrant from a Muslim country.
Apparently Jeremy Corbyn has abolished the post of Shadow Immigration minister.
It appears that a large number of Labour shadows haven't got any people to shadow, and a large number of Conservative ministers haven't got anyone to shadow them.
Does that make the shadow cabinet the phantom cabinet?
He misread the LabourList comment like I did I think. Corbyn has not abolished that post. It was merged to become Minister for Security and Immigration by the Tories not so long ago. However the phantom cabinet is still a very real possibility.
Apparently Jeremy Corbyn has abolished the post of Shadow Immigration minister.
It appears that a large number of Labour shadows haven't got any people to shadow, and a large number of Conservative ministers haven't got anyone to shadow them.
Does that make the shadow cabinet the phantom cabinet?
He misread the LabourList comment like I did I think. Corbyn has not abolished that post. It was merged to become Minister for Security and Immigration by the Tories not so long ago. However the phantom cabinet is still a very real possibility.
One of my friends failed her AS year and re-did it, and by no means did she find the exams 'easy'. I think the resitting is balanced out by the increase in the amount of exams taken. I don't think incidentally though, that doing exams all in one year will scare people for life. What might is having those of the older generation lord it over the my generation about their grades.
Lording it so to speak would not be right, but I doubt I'm alone on here in having interviewed folk for a job and just not been in a position to take grades seriously anymore. It's been all well and good the educational establishment egged on and for all I know cajoled by Govt to "produce" better grades for 30 odd years so ministers could give "good news" and teachers and pupils/students ( not their fault mind) feel good, if the end result is that crusty old sods like me who are the eventual targets of the grading system so to speak increasingly think it's all a load of crap.
Tbh, I think it would be an accurate description. For a very long time now, the people who have faced the brunt of the criticism for the failings of the education system have been students - who are in a no-win position. Do well? You're grades are worthless anyway. Do badly? Wow, you must be utterly dumb. Go to university? Who cares, everyone gets in anyway. Do a vocational qualification? That's criticised by employers too. Meanwhile there is always someone of the 80s, 70s, generation - arguably a generation of more opportunity than what many people my age will face - who will say how great their grades were, how hard their exams were etc. I've heard on comment sections, and on blogs a million anecdotal stories like the above about someone who on paper has good/decent grades but who doesn't impress in the job interview. The way many young people are talked about today by some I'm honestly shocked they know any. If the education system is so rubbish, criticise the politicians who actually created it, rather than the students who can only work with what they have.
Quite right. The students can only pass what's put in front of them. They can't go back to the 70's or 80's and sit then. It's the politicians who've ballsed it all up. The vast expansion of degree level education started by the Tories, I believe, and gone for even bigger by T Blair is a nonsense which ( as I've said before) has conned your generation. It used to be really quite hard to get into uni, but the relative few that made it were paid for and tended to have better prospects of better and (generally) better paid careers. Increase supply of graduates hugely and the price falls, it ain't rocket science.
Some increase was doubtless needed but all this "everyone needs a degree" rubbish has gone wrong and mostly for the under 35's.
@rcs Rob, I know a lot of London-based Muslims and a few from elsewhere so what I am about to say may be too localised, in particular may well not apply to Muslims on the European continent.
Intermarriage with non-Muslim brides is not just something they are going to want to avoid on a religious basis - even folk who are not particularly religious are going to be keen to avoid for cultural reasons. A fact you are missing is not that they are going to want "muslim" brides, but they are going to want "brides from the same country and from the same social group". That's the way these dynamics seem to work. (For instance it would have been unthinkable for my Muslim Bengali friends to marry a non-Muslim, but that's because it would have been unthinkable to not marry a fellow Bengali. And if they were Sylheti, it had to be Sylheti. And if they followed a particular school of Islam - even in the Bangladeshi community there are a few about - it had to be someone from the same school. And if they were a uni graduate in a professional job, then it had to be ... you get the idea. Things are even more complicated with Indian/Pakistani Muslims where there are more language considerations. Somalis and some Arab groups have tribal considerations. With Ahmadi and Ishmaili muslims, certain families have higher social standing due to their closeness to the inner circles of leadership of that faith, and that needs to be approximately matched too.) By talking about "Islamic" brides you are missing the point. Mostly we're talking about is brides who just so happen to be muslim, but that is simply one of many markers that couples are ticking each-other's boxes for.
As for "the changing demographics will suddenly allow female Muslims in Europe a lot of power". Okay. But remember that e.g. third-generation Turkish women in Germany are not actually very high on the wishlist for a recently-arrived Syrian guy: huge differences in culture, language and background. And also remember that the social network that helps find more suitable marital matches - a wide-reaching network of family and kinship groups - is still going to be in operation now that he's arrived in Europe. The internet helps with that, but e.g. many Asian folk in Britain got by perfectly well even with much poorer communications.
What you need to get your head around is A GUY WITH A EUROPEAN PASSPORT IS A HOT TICKET - to someone without said passport. Women too, actually. People who are not "fresh off the boat" (second and third generation) often don't like marrying an arranged or semi-arranged match from overseas because their new partner may not be well-adjusted for life in the new country. But there are also advantages - because you are a bigger draw to such a person, you can get a partner who is otherwise "out of your league" (in terms of age/appearance/qualifications, even social class). For someone who is relatively new to a country, marrying someone from overseas is even more attractive.
Every time the Director of Rebuttals states that Jezza has been quoted out of context he should be asked whether Maggie said "there's no such thing as society"
I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.
Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ...
Complex numbers are really interesting.
sqrt(-1) = i
blew my mind when I learnt about it.
Complex numbers are brilliant! Surely one of the best and most exciting discoveries in mathematics for 2000 years (for those non-maths types here, without complex numbers you wouldn't be reading this as electronic computers would not be possible). Aside from the sheer joy of Complex Number Theory, the philosophy and the history behind them is huge fun to read about (and, after a few beers, to debate).
Infinity and infinitesimals may be the most fun mathematical discoveries ever but complex numbers must run them a close third.
Absolutely! Quadratic equations in complex numbers were great fun. De moivre's theorem was also very cool too! Cos theta + I sin theta and it has its uses in electricity if I recall correctly.
Comments
Infinity and infinitesimals may be the most fun mathematical discoveries ever but complex numbers must run them a close third.
On the other hand, I was surprised a few weeks ago to discover that pupils about to take the 11plus exam are expected to be familiar with Geometry and Algebra. In the 1960s I did not encounter those subjects at Primary School.
He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11872727/Islamic-terrorist-shot-dead-after-Berlin-attack-on-policewoman.html
Now he seems a bit shocked that they are returning the compliment.
Sarah Champion - Shadow Minister for preventing abuse
Emily Thornberry - Shadow Minister for Employment
Pat McFadden - Shadow Minister for Europe
It appears the shadow ministerial reshuffle is still not over for minor positions, and may still go on a lot longer...
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical
About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
I'm very good at integral and differential calculus
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous
I think most serious gamblers expect to win, so the losses are more newsworthy than the wins
It's intriguing how Trump's low energy comment has hung around Bush's neck.
Speaking of Trump, I'm not sure if he'll implode or the folks will just get tired of his schtick, and he'll pick up his ball and go home, which I think might be starting to happen. He's a one trick pony.
Carson seems like the epitome of a funeral director in a small town.
One quote sums it up: " He had ‘come to understand in the last few weeks, quite how shallow the attachment of the left is to principles which I thought defined it.’"
That's great. Much better than Miliband's misandry.
Good on Corbyn.
One hell of a mess.
It'd be good to know why he was allowed to remain in Germany after he was released. You'd think he'd be the sort of person who'd be on the first flight out of the country.
@wallaceme
My favourite ever Jeremy Corbyn parliamentary quote (from way back in 1989) "There was nothing wrong with the Luddites"
The kicker is that these Chinese kids were 14-15 years old, and mostly here to learn English. And they'd done a lot of the A-level (including the Further Maths I was teaching them) before. Very different style of teaching. Interestingly, though, they were a lot weaker on statistics and data handling, something they hadn't had much emphasis on previously.
I've never mentioned that, if that's meant to be a dig at me!
It'd be good to know why he was allowed to remain in Germany after he was released. You'd think he'd be the sort of person who'd be on the first flight out of the country.
Pretty sure it wasn't aimed at you but at a couple of others who have been arguing that we won't be affected in the UK by the large number of migrants entering Germany because they won't be eligible for German citizenship for 8 years. By which time they will be settled in Germany and won't want to move to the UK - or so the argument goes.
I almost had to sing it. Every Speech Day at school we put on a Gilbert and Sullivan performance. In my memory it always seemed to be either Pinafore or Pirates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Opposition_frontbench
If so, to say that he's leaning rather heavily on the House of Lords is a bit of an understatement!
But a lot of sixth forms don't have the staff to teach any higher than A-level. (In fact, plenty of the A-level teachers, particularly in shortage subjects, are often barely qualified to do so. One of my ex-colleagues teaching A-level maths was a psychology graduate, for instance: she knew the A-level material, particularly the stats because she'd done a lot of the quantitative side of psychometry in her degree, but didn't like teaching the second year pure maths. If she'd had a student who'd been told they had to pass a STEP exam, then she'd have been pretty much zero use to her.)
(*) My singing's so good that it's been mentioned in a published book. Something about a cat being strangled.
See http://labourlist.org/2015/09/liveblog-whos-in-jeremy-corbyns-shadow-cabinet/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major-General's_Song
.@JeremyCorbyn4PM will join a union rally at party conference. The TORY party conference.
http://t.co/IG77CcGXBm #novel
Actually it feels like there's more than a fair share on here with connections to the Principality.
EDIT IIRC YouGov calculated that 3000 Tories at GE2015 voted for Corbyn
Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway.
Modern A-level chemistry textbooks that I've seen seem to cover the entire syllabus in about 200 pages, so I have the feeling even more has been cut. (Quite possibly the maths. Although it wasn't explicitly on-syllabus our teacher liked showing us a very basic case of solving the Schrödinger equation for instance. I have the feeling, since he taught from old notes he'd prepared decades earlier when he started teaching, that he did this because once upon a time it had been on the syllabus! Now that it's assumed A-level students know no calculus, they wouldn't be able to perform the necessary integration. Similarly A-level physics students are not expected to be able to perform integration and differentiation, which is of course a nonsense if they want to go on and study physics at any higher level.)
You'd like to think not!
“The labour movement exists to organise people, it exists to bring about change. It does not exist to accommodate capital.”
UK airstrikes have killed 330 Isis fighters, says Fallon http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4559700.ece
As someone who did maths & further-maths, that'd mean 12 maths based exams at the end of the 2 years. So I think the days of grade inflation just might be dead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyNI7wmjS6s
I grew so rich that I was sent
By a pocket borough into Parliament
I always voted at my party's call
And I never thought of thinking for myself at all
No, he never thought of thinking for himself at all
I thought so little, they rewarded me
By making me the Ruler of the Queen's Navy
He thought so little, they rewarded he
By making him the Ruler of the Queen's Navy
Doing all your exams in one year is perfectly manageable and hasn't scarred old fogies for life. For us, lower sixth was a time of less pressure - was probably the most "fun" year of school in some ways. I actually feel worse for modern students who have continual exam pressure from year 11 to year 13.
It would be sensible to cut down the number of exams now they are being done in one sitting. When maths and further maths first went modular, there were four not six exams for each.
I've never mentioned that, if that's meant to be a dig at me!
It'd be good to know why he was allowed to remain in Germany after he was released. You'd think he'd be the sort of person who'd be on the first flight out of the country.
Pretty sure it wasn't aimed at you but at a couple of others who have been arguing that we won't be affected in the UK by the large number of migrants entering Germany because they won't be eligible for German citizenship for 8 years. By which time they will be settled in Germany and won't want to move to the UK - or so the argument goes.
The way things are going, the EU will have ceased to exist by then. If it hasn't we'll have been long gone.
The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."
Thank god, Labour are not in power.
Oddly, even under the system that's just gone, not all schools made students take the AS modules in Year 12. Some "high performing" schools have for many years just got all students to take all exams - with some exceptions e.g. for further maths students - at the end of Year 13, on the grounds that a year's extra maturity will ensure better results, and it also salvages about two months of extra teaching time from the year 12 exam period. That was very much the exception rather than the rule, admittedly.
Where there seems to have been a bit of a botch made, is that universities would still like students to have something more than GCSEs to show them at admissions time (though the system worked fine in my day without it, and there is statistical evidence that AS results generally add little information compared to GCSE grades). And schools still want kids to take 4 subjects then drop their weakest or least important one, which requires a way of certifying one year's worth of learning. So a lot of schools are still taking the AS exams as a separate qualification, which seems a bit of a waste.
https://twitter.com/DouglasCarswell/status/644587880954884096
Who knew?
There is already a shortage of monumentally stupid Islamic brides in this country, as demonstrated by the (completely unsatiated) desire of the also monumentally stupid would be Islamic warriors to get Jihadi brides in Syria.
I know of only a few schools in London which ignore AS levels but I imagine it is going to become much more common. One of the things that frustrated me as a teacher/lecturer - most of the third term in the first year was lost, for practical purposes. Another was that the sense of community spirit in sixth form was much diminished since my day: when Year 12 was not an externally examined year, they would often be at the heart of school life. Running activities for younger children, voluntary work in the community, school productions, debating competitions, sport, music, that kind of thing. Once Year 13 was really up and running - marked by the sending of university applications - then that activity was cut down, but by then the new Year 12s would be running the shows so there was someone to pass the baton to. In many ways Year 12 was a good opportunity to broaden your experience of the real world and polish up your CV before uni. That has died off a lot now, very few colleges still give a regular slot (for some reason it was often Wednesday afternoons!) to extracurricular activities for Year 12.
You are of course correct that exam pressure starts as early as 11! But a bit of pressure, applied at the correct time (by which, I don't mean 11!) is no bad thing. It's the continual pressure of Year 11, Year 12, Year 13 which worries me.
* Thousandth. Bloody hell. Bear in mind that there were very many comments on Disqus, and goodness knows how many on the custom commenting system PB had before that, and I am finally being held to account for the time spent, or wasted, here. That list of "all those other things I have been meant to be doing" over the years only grows longer!
It appears that a large number of Labour shadows haven't got any people to shadow, and a large number of Conservative ministers haven't got anyone to shadow them.
23 million pairs of eyeballs, just a million less than watched the Fox News debate last month.
See how Marco and Carly do in the aftermath.
For one, the hypocrisy was massive. Despite the fact that he had married an Enslighwoman, he forbade his children from marrying one.
It got much worse than that, but I won't go further.
On the other hand, I know a fair few Muslims who are very well integrated into society, and lots (including Mrs J) who are from a Muslim country but are not practising the religion.
I've also made a little money working for a successful company CEO'd by an immigrant from a Muslim country.
However the phantom cabinet is still a very real possibility.
Some increase was doubtless needed but all this "everyone needs a degree" rubbish has gone wrong and mostly for the under 35's.
Rob, I know a lot of London-based Muslims and a few from elsewhere so what I am about to say may be too localised, in particular may well not apply to Muslims on the European continent.
Intermarriage with non-Muslim brides is not just something they are going to want to avoid on a religious basis - even folk who are not particularly religious are going to be keen to avoid for cultural reasons. A fact you are missing is not that they are going to want "muslim" brides, but they are going to want "brides from the same country and from the same social group". That's the way these dynamics seem to work. (For instance it would have been unthinkable for my Muslim Bengali friends to marry a non-Muslim, but that's because it would have been unthinkable to not marry a fellow Bengali. And if they were Sylheti, it had to be Sylheti. And if they followed a particular school of Islam - even in the Bangladeshi community there are a few about - it had to be someone from the same school. And if they were a uni graduate in a professional job, then it had to be ... you get the idea. Things are even more complicated with Indian/Pakistani Muslims where there are more language considerations. Somalis and some Arab groups have tribal considerations. With Ahmadi and Ishmaili muslims, certain families have higher social standing due to their closeness to the inner circles of leadership of that faith, and that needs to be approximately matched too.) By talking about "Islamic" brides you are missing the point. Mostly we're talking about is brides who just so happen to be muslim, but that is simply one of many markers that couples are ticking each-other's boxes for.
As for "the changing demographics will suddenly allow female Muslims in Europe a lot of power". Okay. But remember that e.g. third-generation Turkish women in Germany are not actually very high on the wishlist for a recently-arrived Syrian guy: huge differences in culture, language and background. And also remember that the social network that helps find more suitable marital matches - a wide-reaching network of family and kinship groups - is still going to be in operation now that he's arrived in Europe. The internet helps with that, but e.g. many Asian folk in Britain got by perfectly well even with much poorer communications.
What you need to get your head around is A GUY WITH A EUROPEAN PASSPORT IS A HOT TICKET - to someone without said passport. Women too, actually. People who are not "fresh off the boat" (second and third generation) often don't like marrying an arranged or semi-arranged match from overseas because their new partner may not be well-adjusted for life in the new country. But there are also advantages - because you are a bigger draw to such a person, you can get a partner who is otherwise "out of your league" (in terms of age/appearance/qualifications, even social class). For someone who is relatively new to a country, marrying someone from overseas is even more attractive.