Boston Grammar loses out.

[BeanieBots]

Today is the day that Boston Grammer School says fairwell to their Head of Design and Technology.
Today Rickharris celebrates his birthday and retirement.

Hopefully their loss will be our gain.

Happy birthday Rick,
BB

 

[SilentScreamer]

Happy Birthday, thanks for all the help you've given me and countless others

 

[Dippy]

Happy 29th Rick.
Retired so young .....

But more time to play!

 

[Rickharris]

Hi, Thanks I have agreed to stay to the end of term as long as they don't expect me to do very much (no change there then!). So only 17 days to go!!!!!! What will I do with my time???

Who cares its MINE!!! all MINE

60 Ha! Just think of me as 2 x 30 years old.

 

[manuka]

Providing you're still healthy,consider that 60 is apparently the new 40. Look forward to 80- the new 60!

 

[Rickharris]

I can across some 1960's entry papers for the RAF electronics training school

The following is a small sample of the Maths paper: Could todays 15/16 year old students answer them?

1. a) changes a velocity of 120 yds per min to ft pr sec
b) Change acceleration of 120 yds per min per min to ft per sec per sec.

2. a) how much work is done in riding a bicycle 1 mile against an average resistance of 10 lb wt.
b) What power is expended in lifting 660lbs through a vertical height of 50 ft in 8 min.

3. a) A mass of 13lbs is moving with an acceleration of 32 ft per se per sec. What is the magnitude of the force producing this motion

a) in pounds
b) in lb wt

 

[Dippy]

Well they can on this Forum because they have Google
Google turns anyone into cut'n'paste experts.

But who knows? The question implies the kiddies at your school couldn't.

I'm still stuck on the correct grammar for "todays"....

 

[Rickharris]

Well they can on this Forum because they have Google
Google turns anyone into cut'n'paste experts.

But who knows? The question implies the kiddies at your school couldn't.

I'm still stuck on the correct grammar for "todays"....

"The students of today!"... this is a Grammar school not a Grammer school!!

 

[Rickharris]

The question would be considered A level today, and even then a large number would be stuck I think. Even mm and cm confuse them.
Who ever said we are dumbing down the education ayatem?

No wonder we have problems getting young folk to take on engineering trades it must all just look too hard for them to consider - even with google.

The maths question was part of the entry paper just to get in so that was the expected level of maths at age 15 in 1960-65.

The question below is from an electronics paper typical of what was asked as an end of stage exam every 6 weeks - 60% pass rate - No pass and they no longer wanted you - no resit or second chance.

This was all based on what you knew or remembered as no technical books allowed.

Electronics exam question:

• a) Draw the circuit diagram of a tetrode anode and screen modulated radio frequency power amplifier, suitable for use in a wireless transmitter operating in the hf band include in the diagram a push pull af modulator stage.
• b) Sketch on separate time scales the wave form of a grid voltage, anode voltage and anode current for an amplitude modulated rf power amplifier. Show relative phase relationships and reference levels.

 

[Dippy]

Ah, the atrophied apostrophe.

I can tell you've been turning out your desk Rick .

Reminiscing ain't what it used to be.

 

[manuka]

Dippy: Down here in NZ such blunders are affectionately known as a "Greengrocer's Apostrophe". But you too would be flummoxed by Polynesian alphabets of just 14 letters,with an apostrophe (signifying a glottal stop) one too! Example = Fa'tia'ki (Samoan)

That aside, I must spring to the defense of today's youngsters, who are often adept in fields quite alien to their ancients. Let's take the very keyboard we're all hacking away at for starters. I spent years slide-ruling my way thru' problems like those above,or mastering Morse Code, & predictably now ponder touch typing may have been more beneficial...

 

[Rickharris]

Dippy:

All tidy and ready to go

I kid you not about the maths today:

The following are from the AQA exemplar GCSE paper available to anyone on their web site. The level expected from the average 15/16 year old today.

3 Here are some numbers. 1 2 3 4 5


Using three different numbers, write down

3 (a) the largest three digit number,

(b) the smallest even three digit number,

(c) a three digit number that is a multiple of 3.

6 (a) Measure and write down the length of the line AB.

 

[manuka]

I've seen some in nameless tertiary level programs who'd have trouble with these. Mind you they're whizzes with CAD walk-thru's.

 

[hippy]

a) 987
b) 102
c) 621

Is that a pass or a fail ? Is "Here are some numbers" just informative or are those the only numbers which are meant to be used ?

It seems a bit of a 'trick question'; someone doing a maths exam should know what a number is so the presence of the examples is redundant yet its presence suggests it is important and leads to suspecting the actual question asked should have included "from the above list of numbers". Is the maths exam also a comprehension test ?

 

[Dippy]

Bloomin' 'eck Rick.
That's for GCSE ?
I assumed it was for 10 year olds.

Here's a MENSA question.
Which is the odd one out?
1. Apples
2. Dates
3. Cherries
4. Bananas.

Monni-ah.
Thats how many people in UK pronounce monitor. Good old glo-all.

 

[BeanieBots]

Depends if you know your herbs from your fruits.

 

[Rickharris]

Bloomin' 'eck Rick.
That's for GCSE ?
I assumed it was for 10 year olds.

Here's a MENSA question.
Which is the odd one out?
1. Apples
2. Dates
3. Cherries
4. Bananas.

Monni-ah.
Thats how many people in UK pronounce monitor. Good old glo-all.

As I keep telling the kids - Bananas don't grow on trees.

As for the numbers Hippy - I read the question to say use the given number only so the highest number will be 543 - However as always when someone with a lot more intelligence reads them they see pitfalls and make the problem harder than it actually is.


If you don't believe me you can access the paper at http://www.aqa.org.uk/qual/newgcses/maths_ict/current/maths_a_rev_materials.php?id=01&prev=01

Anyway thanks for all the good wishes out on the town now to behave disgracefully as my advanced age demands.

 

[Dippy]

Nice one hippy.
The question is poorly phrased and the question setters should be sent back to school.

As usual, an interesting point: if a question is truly ambiguous then its a poor question.
And just think, the people that got this 'wrong' have no appeal.

Is it a question of some trendy Snivvle Servant trying to dumb down to lowest-common-buffoon and messing up the question?
He/she/it should be shot immediately and then sent to teacher training college or Art College.

Anyway, Rick, not for you to worry about any more... happy retirement and keep the old grey matter active.

I'm sure you will behave disgracefully, albeit a bit more slowly than 30 years ago

 

[SilentScreamer]

The following are from the AQA exemplar GCSE paper available to anyone on their web site. The level expected from the average 15/16 year old today.

3 Here are some numbers. 1 2 3 4 5


Using three different numbers, write down

3 (a) the largest three digit number,

(b) the smallest even three digit number,

(c) a three digit number that is a multiple of 3.

6 (a) Measure and write down the length of the line AB.

That's not fair, that was on the foundation paper. Having said I the actual higher paper isn't much harder, hardest topics are trig (cosine rule and sine rule) and quadratics. I hope there is something more interesting next year at A-level (calculus and complex numbers maybe ).

 

[BrendanP]

I was talking to the MD at my last job who is a civil engineer. Im mentioned that I would of liked to do electronic engineering ( I have a humanities BA). He laughed and said don't bother. he went on to say "see that guy down the corridor. He costs me 60K a year". The guy in question is a civil engineer a few years out of uni.

A builders laborer on a multi story project in Melb. will make around a 100k. Im in Queensland now crane driving, one of the guys made a 150K last year.

So whilst kids out of school might not be good at math they still do the calcs and see that engineering is a dud career at least from a financial perspective.

 

[George Sephton]

Wooo simple GCSEs, what can I say although my school doesn't offer electronics GCSE which is a real bummer but they do have a huge cabinet full of electronics from when they did it

I can across some 1960's entry papers for the RAF electronics training school

The following is a small sample of the Maths paper: Could todays 15/16 year old students answer them?

1. a) changes a velocity of 120 yds per min to ft pr sec
b) Change acceleration of 120 yds per min per min to ft per sec per sec.

2. a) how much work is done in riding a bicycle 1 mile against an average resistance of 10 lb wt.
b) What power is expended in lifting 660lbs through a vertical height of 50 ft in 8 min.

3. a) A mass of 13lbs is moving with an acceleration of 32 ft per se per sec. What is the magnitude of the force producing this motion

a) in pounds
b) in lb wt

these questions are hard because we haven't been taught stuff like yards :S or feet but change in acceleration and speed, hehe that's OCR Additional Maths easy! Just read through the rest and i don't understand any of it

Oh and @SilentScreamer, yeah AQA Maths is far too easy, as in we have 2 hours to do it and our class (top set ) finish after 50 minutes.

Good old chemistry foundation gcse 2009: (a picture of 3 shaded balls and 3 white balls) here is an atom, how many neutrons are there (shaded balls) or better still in a maths foundation: here is a 6 sided shape, what is the name of a 6 sided shape. I have millions of these I could write

 

[Tim036]

I was asked to lecture a years HNC course in 'Line Transmission'. No Probs I said !

I asked them a week or 2 in 'How many have done Complex' numbers or who know what j or i is?

Only one had covered that,

Gulp ! Phase and Inductors and Capacitance was going to be dire !

I was assured by May the Maths would be covered......

A generous budget for test equipment was available and gained but I still had to build my own Time Domain Reflectomer and Standing Wave demo jig (150 Mhz) driven off my own 2M Rig.

The students were an OK bunch but their prior technical education was not up to the task of an HNC or anything close.

I don't remember Maxwell's equations getting suddenly easier to understand.

What chance has the UK got in the world of high tech when base knowledge has been more or less flushed away?

[Rant over]



Tim

 

[manuka]

As a career educator (~38 years!), I've predictably quite a few well seasoned insights on the comments & questions -especially the poorly worded questions! Suffice to say that every generation "neglects" knowledge that their elders may view as essential.

Who amongst us is now conversant with the likes of Latin, Greek,lengthy recitations, long division, sketching,steam engines, sail, log tables, celestial navigation,military drill, horses or (Dippy excluded) swordsmanship? Back in ~Victorian times such knowledge was considered fundamental for budding gentlemen.

What chance has the UK got in the world of high tech when base knowledge has been more or less flushed away?

Relax Tim- the rest of the world has become just as wayward. Lazy approaches thrive in even Asia, & here in NZ we have teens barely able to add 2 numbers together or use a screwdriver. ( Yes- just like the UK they go into sport,law or politics)

Of course the likes of

b) What power is expended in lifting 660lbs through a vertical height of 50 ft in 8 min.

represents a weights & measures system now unfamiliar to most moderns as well. Assuming formula are memorized (or-gasp!-given) 300kg raised 15m in 480 secs (against "g") is much friendlier. Just as Victorians (& -ahem-American's) would gag over SI units, such past exam shockers come from a technical culture alien to most modern learners. Stan.

 

[flyingnunrt]

Doesn't have quite the same ring to it as 1pound 1foot in 1 minute does it!

I think that should actually be 33000 not 1
I got mixed up with calories I think

 

[manuka]

How does 1 kg 1m in 1 sec strike you?

 

[BeanieBots]

No where near as nice as bushels at furlongs per fortnight.

 

[Dippy]

"How does 1 kg 1m in 1 sec strike you?"
- quite painfully.

Just think, it'll be the 40th of Man first setting foot on the moon. (My DOB by the way).
Those were days when men and women could do serious Maths on the blackboard and didn't rely on Computer Says.

My era at Uni was in that 'middle ages' period where we still did maths for electronics but also digital as well, so I saw (but have forgotten most) both sides of it.
I think the easy access to soltuions has made people lazy.

Now, can someone give the circuit diagram and write the code for my new electronic scarecrow. You don't have to give me all the code, but if you supply it chunks it'll make it look like I've put some effort in

 

[manuka]

July 22nd 1969- those WERE the days! Well that's aside from the little business in Vietnam - thankfully our enlightened NZ govt. kept the likes of myself out of it. You probably won't want to hear any further stories from that day- which I remember exceedingly clearly... Stan

 

[SilentScreamer]

Those were days when men and women could do serious Maths on the blackboard and didn't rely on Computer Says.

There were days when we could successfully send a lunar landing pod with only a little more processing power than a digital watch, I expect some people here can just about remember.

 

[Dippy]

Has my birthday moved?
I've been getting presents on the 21st for years....

Can you imagine Stan in Vietnam?
Carpet bombing with breadboards....
Comms between armoured vehicles using various pots and pans as antennae...
and waiting weeks for the ground-to-air comms being sent over from Hope RF...
... just joshing

 

[Rickharris]

Now, can someone give the circuit diagram and write the code for my new electronic scarecrow. You don't have to give me all the code, but if you supply it chunks it'll make it look like I've put some effort in

Saw this in a local field-

A blow up Father christmas was connected to a fan. Periodically the fan started and the father christmas rose off the ground waving its arms, After a min or two the fan stops and Father C sinks back. Scared the he*&l out of me and I saw no birds in the field.

Sounds simple to picaxe.

 

[Rickharris]

That's not fair, that was on the foundation paper.).

Although true, outside education the terms foundation and higher don't mean very much. As as you say the higher paper wasn't much better.

The illustration stands.

 

[Dippy]

That is an excellent idea.
I shall make an inflatable Gordon Brown.

I take it that you'll be able to spend more time in fields now Rick?

(i before e except after C if the sound makes eee ; that's banned now isn't it?)

 

[manuka]

Dippy: Apologies- due to our advanced time zone it was the 22nd in NZ. FWIW I was in the NZ military around then (Signals & Medical), & also saw overseas service- although not thankfully in Vietnam.

 

[Rickharris]

Yep, looking for birds Available for scarecrow activities - minimum wage applies

 

[Rickharris]

Funny mix signals AND medical - how did it work - Can't cure him so send for air ambulance?

 

[manuka]

Vice versa.

 

[papaof2]

That is an excellent idea.
I shall make an inflatable Gordon Brown.

I take it that you'll be able to spend more time in fields now Rick?

(i before e except after C if the sound makes eee ; that's banned now isn't it?)

I before E except after C or when sounded like A as in neighbor or weigh - and then there are weird words such as science and Sheila...

And yes, I used a slide rule at university in the 1960's. My chem lab partner had one of those new 4 banger calculators and was amazed that I got answers faster than he did. He commented that he "had never seen a slide rule that worked in milliseconds." Of course, Pi is marked on the slide rule (K&E Log Log Duplex Decitrig) but must be computed on an add, subtract, multiply, divide calculator by one of several formulae (Latin was a requirement for university entry then but Spanish would be more useful now).
I still have the slide rule, including the green case with belt loop. It works as fast as it ever did and needs no batteries - but you do have to carry the decimal point in your head...

John

 

[D n T]

Good luck Mr Harris

As a beginning teacher I have to most reapect for the guys who have done thier time and are retiring. "Old school" teachers rule.

P.S. Do you have any resources you want to share (teacher code for you design the circuit and code and give it to me and I'll submit it) or perhaps some project ideas that you have used that work.
By the way Manuka, Latin, Greek, long division, sketching,steam engines, sail, log tables, celestial navigation,military drill, horses or swordsmanship et al.
En guard (well the katana not the rapier or the bastard), some years.
Dad is an engineer and saw time in Vietnam so sketching, steam engines, drill, night nav, the sextant (one sixth of a circle), long division and a tatty scientific tables book have contributed to my being the well adjusted member of society that you see today.

One of the biggest differnces I have seen is the lack of respect shown by students and the idea many of them have that they WILL be a star, sports hero or get that high paid job straight out of school. GET REAL PEOPLE!!

Best of luck Mr Harris, I hope some of your former students buy you a beer.

 

[Rickharris]

As a beginning teacher I have to most reapect for the guys who have done thier time and are retiring. "Old school" teachers rule.

P.S. Do you have any resources you want to share (teacher code for you design the circuit and code and give it to me and I'll submit it) or perhaps some project ideas that you have used that work.
...

Best of luck Mr Harris, I hope some of your former students buy you a beer.

Many beers already consumed Will get back with some information although much of the project information allready in the forum.