In England we are allowed to choose what subjects we do. Some subjects are compulsory at my school up to the point I am at but then we can do whichever four subjects we want in the last two years of school. I do not care how much choice we have (as long as I am not forced to do subjects which I can't to a ridiculous level), to me what matters most is what is in the exams.
The scientific curriculum I have just finished studying (I am about to change courses from GCSE which has 9 subjects to A level in which you can chose whatever subjects you like and usualy people do 4 at my school), when put into booklet format, amounts to 269 pages. We have to study a similar amount for six other subjects at the same time.
I can tell you what pressure and temperature is used in the direct hydration of ethanol, the production of ammonia and the production of sulphuric acid as well as what the latter two final products can be used to make. Do you really believe that knowing I can make nylon out of ammonia is going to be usefull? It could be argued that such processes demonstrate chemical but do I need to know the tempurature at each end of a crude oil distillation tower?
I enjoy learning sciences but there is a point where it stops being scientific and start being random facts. I am sorry if this post sounds quite aggressive, the tone is unintentional. It is easy to think that GCSE is basic because the actual science we learn us basic, but it is no longer only science we are tested on. One of the questions in my physics paper was about how hurricanes form (it makes sense because it is convection but such questions are confusing for geographers because the diagram in the paper was incorrect).
This is why I like maths and liked physics so much. Maths requires nothing but logic, all the answers are there but you have to present them in the right way. Physic equations are usually common sense. However, the exam board is trying to make the science papers more writing based than equation and knowledge based, which is probably better as a test of intellect but which make physics much less enjoyable.
You talk about education before university like it doesn't matter but exams are what decide who is good enough to go to which university so they are inseparably linked.
Keep in mind that the knowledge I have told you we require is only for GCSE, this will still be considered as easy when we move onto studying for the next set of exams, A levels. I probably sound really defensive and offended in most of this post so I think it us worth pointing out that my pride was not dented by your slander of my current studies and I am not writing this to regain confidence in my intelligence.
I hope that covers everything and makes some sort of sense. Thank you for reading. I am going to do some more revision for the chemistry exam I have in about 5 hours from now.
The scientific curriculum I have just finished studying (I am about to change courses from GCSE which has 9 subjects to A level in which you can chose whatever subjects you like and usualy people do 4 at my school), when put into booklet format, amounts to 269 pages. We have to study a similar amount for six other subjects at the same time.
I can tell you what pressure and temperature is used in the direct hydration of ethanol, the production of ammonia and the production of sulphuric acid as well as what the latter two final products can be used to make. Do you really believe that knowing I can make nylon out of ammonia is going to be usefull? It could be argued that such processes demonstrate chemical but do I need to know the tempurature at each end of a crude oil distillation tower?
I enjoy learning sciences but there is a point where it stops being scientific and start being random facts. I am sorry if this post sounds quite aggressive, the tone is unintentional. It is easy to think that GCSE is basic because the actual science we learn us basic, but it is no longer only science we are tested on. One of the questions in my physics paper was about how hurricanes form (it makes sense because it is convection but such questions are confusing for geographers because the diagram in the paper was incorrect).
This is why I like maths and liked physics so much. Maths requires nothing but logic, all the answers are there but you have to present them in the right way. Physic equations are usually common sense. However, the exam board is trying to make the science papers more writing based than equation and knowledge based, which is probably better as a test of intellect but which make physics much less enjoyable.
You talk about education before university like it doesn't matter but exams are what decide who is good enough to go to which university so they are inseparably linked.
Keep in mind that the knowledge I have told you we require is only for GCSE, this will still be considered as easy when we move onto studying for the next set of exams, A levels. I probably sound really defensive and offended in most of this post so I think it us worth pointing out that my pride was not dented by your slander of my current studies and I am not writing this to regain confidence in my intelligence.
I hope that covers everything and makes some sort of sense. Thank you for reading. I am going to do some more revision for the chemistry exam I have in about 5 hours from now.
Good morning sweet princess
Originally Posted by protonitron
The scientific curriculum I have just finished studying (I am about to change courses from GCSE which has 9 subjects to A level in which you can chose whatever subjects you like and usualy people do 4 at my school), when put into booklet format, amounts to 269 pages. We have to study a similar amount for six other subjects at the same time.
Page number doesn't mean much. Even if you take into account typeface, distance between lines, distance from the edge of the paper, ... it doesn't mean much. A page of text/ a table that spreads accross one page, a drawing or a picture, ... all different.
Originally Posted by protonitron
I can tell you what pressure and temperature is used in the direct hydration of ethanol, the production of ammonia and the production of sulphuric acid as well as what the latter two final products can be used to make. Do you really believe that knowing I can make nylon out of ammonia is going to be usefull? It could be argued that such processes demonstrate chemical but do I need to know the tempurature at each end of a crude oil distillation tower?
Do you mean dehydration, perhaps? Also, the numbers don't matter, but the process does. Dehydration is a simple concept in organochem.
Originally Posted by protonitron
I enjoy learning sciences but there is a point where it stops being scientific and start being random facts. I am sorry if this post sounds quite aggressive, the tone is unintentional. It is easy to think that GCSE is basic because the actual science we learn us basic, but it is no longer only science we are tested on. One of the questions in my physics paper was about how hurricanes form (it makes sense because it is convection but such questions are confusing for geographers because the diagram in the paper was incorrect).
What's the use of learning the general principles of science without knowing their applications in our lives?
Originally Posted by protonitron
You talk about education before university like it doesn't matter but exams are what decide who is good enough to go to which university so they are inseparably linked.
It doesn't matter much, no. I went from one opposite (linguistic studies) to another (biomedical/biochemical studies). Besides, where I live, anyone can go to university or college. Tuition fees are around... €80, and syllabi for one year €500. State pays. The only thing you need is a secondary school diploma, and only about 10% of pupils leave school without one. It wasn't as if they were gonna make it in uni anyway.
Originally Posted by protonitron
I hope that covers everything and makes some sort of sense. Thank you for reading. I am going to do some more revision for the chemistry exam I have in about 5 hours from now.
Good luck with your exam, there are a lot of tutoring sites out there if you have questions, and I'm sure some folks in #toribash might be able to help you out.
f=m*a syens
Originally Posted by Arglax
Do you mean dehydration, perhaps?
We learn both hydration of ethene into ethanol and dehydration of ethanol into ethene.
Originally Posted by Arglax
he numbers don't matter, but the process does.
we still learn the numbers. This is my complaint, we are learning things which do not matter and don't aid scientific understanding.
Originally Posted by Arglax
What's the use of learning the general principles of science without knowing their applications in our lives?
I agree with you a bit here. But not all learning is useless without knowledge of its application.
Originally Posted by Arglax
It doesn't matter much, no.
Ok, maybe what we learn doesn't matter, but this leaves the question of why we spend so long learning it.
Thank you for reading.
Good morning sweet princess
Originally Posted by protonitron
We learn both hydration of ethene into ethanol and dehydration of ethanol into ethene.
You are correct, yes, I was confused.
*edit: I WAS correct. Ethanol -> Ethene via dehydration. You put 'hydration of ethanol'.
Last edited by Arglax; Jun 20, 2014 at 01:53 AM.
f=m*a syens
I don't think you got anything wrong to be honest. The mistake was mine. I should have said "the hydration of ethene into ethanol" since ethanol isn't hydrated. Ethanol is indeed dehydrated rather than hydrated.
Anyway it turns out you were right about all the temperatures and pressure. The exam covered about a 20th of the knowledge most of kids taking the exam in my school had revised. This has lead me to another relevant question(z) "how hard should exams be? Should the exams be intentionally tiring or should they be as easy and effortless as possible?"
Anyway it turns out you were right about all the temperatures and pressure. The exam covered about a 20th of the knowledge most of kids taking the exam in my school had revised. This has lead me to another relevant question(z) "how hard should exams be? Should the exams be intentionally tiring or should they be as easy and effortless as possible?"
Good morning sweet princess
