Leaving Cert Technology, 6th year!

truedoom

Thats right all my fellow tech students, we will be doing the FIRST year EVER of leaving cert exam in technology.

what i want to know is, how far along are you other schools? what did you do during your fifth year? how is your coursework comin along? what optional stuff have ye picked?

well i'm in St. Geralds in Mayo;

in 5th year, we started learning how to programme PICAXE boards (programmable boards with inputs, outputs, led's etc. all attached to a programmable chip)

we covered about 2/3 of the coursework, and did a sample project (which the department of edu gave out last year; "design something thats energy efficent" or somethin along those lines)

we learned all about using Microsoft Office (i already knew this :L so thats easy)

Now in 6th year, we have built (and some are still building) a new student Picaxe board, for this years project (which the department haven't given out yet)

along the way, those who didn't know learned how to work with acryllic, solder, and working with electricity, and all the machines in the tech room.

our tech room is awesome, i think its valued at over 250,000 euro. there are 17 new laptops, 1for each student in 6th year (we got them last year)

our chosen options are ICT, and Robotics.

right now we are also studying mechanisms and robotics.

I think our school is fairly ahead but i want to see in comparison to other schools.

Piste

Our technology room is the lunchroom for the 5th years


I didn't even know this was a subject- it sounds really interesting!

truedoom

wow. that kinda sucks.

yeah it is really interesting, so long as you have interest in this kind of stuff. if you did it for JC, obviously u might want to chose it for leaving cert.

best thing is, its the first year, so the exams are supposed to be piss easy according to our teacher the exam higher paper for tech (board gave out samples) are what he'd expect for junior cert honors papers.

Piste

It's a JC subject too?


Yeah they don't offer it in our school, doubt anyone would do it if they did.

shwaa

oh my god.... don't get me started on LC technology..

chose the subject cos i liked it for JC and thought i would be good enough at it...but its totally f***ed up in my school...we spent half of 5th year going over stuff from JC that people forgot...the other half did little bits of the LC course and messed around with our laptops...

this year we are all scared sh*tless of the exam..no exam papers so we don't know what to expect...

totally regretting doing it!

jonno415

hey im just wondering about doing technology for my leaving cert, is it a good subject? much envolved? are all the mark just for the written exam or is there a project aswell? id appreciate some feedbak, thanx

jonno415

jonno415 wrote: »

hey im just wondering about doing technology for my leaving cert, is it a good subject? much envolved? are all the mark just for the written exam or is there a project aswell? id appreciate some feedbak, thanx

Maybe you could ask your questions without writing them in writing thats far too large and far too red?

And yes, there is a project worth a large proportion of the total marks. Well at least I've heard there is anyway.

truedoom

jonno415 wrote: »

hey im just wondering about doing technology for my leaving cert, is it a good subject? much envolved? are all the mark just for the written exam or is there a project aswell? id appreciate some feedbak, thanx

Heya,

Well lets see. I never did technology for JC, but i do find this leaving cert technology to be really interesting. You need to have an interest in it if your gonna do it thats all i'll say.

So i think its a great subjectT. There is a good bit of work involved, but nothing thats over the top difficult.

the best think about the marks:

50% for written exam, 50% for the project. So you can potentially walk into the written exam with half your marks already gotten.

The Project is: A design folder worth 25% and a Model worth 25%.

The hardness of this subject depends on what two options you pick:

for example, we have picked Applied Control Systems (Things like robots, programmable circut boards etc!) and ICT (Computers) This is a good choice, because we use Computers to Program our projects.

You'd be very hard pushed if you picked a combination like ICT and Woodwork.

http://www.ncca.ie/uploadedfiles/publications/LC_Technology_Syllabus.pdf

theres a link to the syllabus. you can have a look through it there.

We dont really know what the written exam will be like, but we have 2 sample papers which the teacher picked up at an Inservice. One for Ordinary, one for Honors. He reckons the Honors paper looks very easy, almost junior cert standard.

Also seeing this is the first year (and for maybe 2 more years) the examiners wont mark the exams ridiculously hard, as they haven't really got anything to go on.

We will be getting the Thematic Brief of the project (basically a sentance that tells us what to make for the project) hopefully this week.


so. bottom line. is it good. yes! if your interested in technology/computers/making circutboards etc.

is it easy? yes! depending on how much work your willing to put into it.

is there a lot involved? no more than any other practical subject really.

hope this helped. any questions, give me a shout!

jonno415

thanks truedoom. thats helps a lot. hard to find stuff bout it online.

truedoom

we just got the thematic briefs today!

here they are:

-Ordinary Level

---

"Toys for young children are often colourful, exciting and attractive. Many toy shops carry an exciting range of toys. Such toys often incorporate structures, mechanisms, and electronics.
Saftey is a very important consideration when designing for children.

Design and make and activity-based toy that will be attractive and appealing to a child. The Toy should be safe when in use and incorporate a mechanical and/or electronic system.



-Honors

---

"In the context of the current debate regarding peak oil and gas production, our current modes of transport place huge demand on fossil fuel reserves. such modes of transport are ultimately unsustainable.
In exploring the future of transportation, there is increased focus on the importance of sustainable local transport.

Within the context of contemporary design, with a focus on carbon footprint and enviromental impact, design and make a working model of a mode of transportation that will help reduce dependency on fossil fuels.
The Model should incorporate electronic and/or mechanocal systems.

k100

Yeah the brief is good i dont normally post here but this is my first post i think
anyway im wondering how are other schools getting along?
6th year student the brief seems do able was searching for stuff and came across this topic on forum :L

how many ppl think this brief is easy?
first year for LC technology anyone get sample briefs btw ?aka a full profolio folder of a sample project?
we are on our analysis of the thematic brief now
how far are other schools on may i ask?

truedoom

well the brief is good, the only major drawback we have is using our PICAXE boards in the project. not really sure how to make a vehical with it.

we got sample folders with the sample brieds in early october, they look good, my teacher reckons the higher level one is a bit easy for leaving certs. i can link you to it if you want.

we have finished our analysis of thematic brief, and are currently doing the Overall management, and research and investigation.

the hardest part of this project, i can see, is just gettin the energy to start the work. i would say i'm a bit behind ont he overal management section myself.


so basically, we have a sort of idea what we are doing now, and are just continuing on with the folder for now.

k100

ic na i have the sample draft project made by t4??
we are finished that all management ect(gannt chart)just
analyisis of the brief but half way done and i dont have any search done which will been done hopefully later this week and next week exams november

I think we are using pcb boards we dont have the equip to make so we gettin someone to do that .
btw donno what is picaxe boards sorry if it is the same

myname10

is there anyone know someone who gaves grinds in limerick around the city for technology