Leaving Cert Applied Maths

Jane98

I'm looking for some information regarding the Leaving Cert Applied Maths course from a teaching perspective. I have been asked to consider teaching this but have no experience of the syllabus.

I have looked at the Oliver Murphy book which seems to be the only book available for this course but with just 250 pages it seems a short course. Is this book sufficient for the exam or would you need to supplement it using other material?

What sort of student takes Applied Maths for the Leaving Cert?
Are exam questions similar from year to year/ predictable or not?
Is there any crossover from the LC Maths or Physics course?

Any information at all will be greatly appreciated?

doc_17

Jane98 wrote: »

I'm looking for some information regarding the Leaving Cert Applied Maths course from a teaching perspective. I have been asked to consider teaching this but have no experience of the syllabus.

I have looked at the Oliver Murphy book which seems to be the only book available for this course but with just 250 pages it seems a short course. Is this book sufficient for the exam or would you need to supplement it using other material?

What sort of student takes Applied Maths for the Leaving Cert?
Are exam questions similar from year to year/ predictable or not?
Is there any crossover from the LC Maths or Physics course?

Any information at all will be greatly appreciated?

The. Purse is shorter than the normal LC HL Maths course. Generally done by students who are good at maths. Lots of crossover maths course and some physics as well. The papers are similiar enough year to year.

TheDriver

and keep away from murphys book, its awful. Go for Donnellys instead as its much more comprehensive and he corrects the papers too.
Its still a tough subject and shouldn't be treated as a simple extra subject. Having said that, its not bad and papers are fairly standard each year.
Most students only do 6-7 topics and do it outside of school in LC year only.

finicio

There is also a resource cd available from the slss. Some of the material is available here http://appmaths.slss.ie/ - contains powerpoints, notes, worked solutions etc. I can email these to you if needed.

Some useful notes and suggested approaches to teaching the subject can be found at http://www.thephysicsteacher.ie/appliedmathshome.html

I focus on 8 of the 10 topics when teaching the subject, as the students only answer 6 in the exam. This tends to be more than adequate with students concentrating on 7 usually (some mightn't like a particular topic)

With each topic I would give an introduction outlining the basic ideas, formulae required, key concepts etc.

Doing the Ordinary Level questions (if relevant) first gives a good grounding and general understanding of the topic before moving onto the higher level questions.

I tend not to use the textbook, but the Dominick Donnelly one is better in my opinion as it is more exam focused with examples and questions written in the style of exam questions.

Students doing the subject are usually very good at Maths (higher level) and often do Physics as well. They tend to be quite motivated also and willing to work hard.

Jane98

Thanks for all the very helpful advice.

I'm having problems locating Donelly's book. Some of the bigger book shops have told me they don't stock it. Anyone any ideas where I might pick up a copy?

TheDriver

you can contact him directly if you want a copy, he works at Bruce College in Cork. Its very good if you want to self learn the course

finicio

waterstones stock it

its published by Tir na Nog publications so perhaps contact them.

This is the authors email address

dominickdonnelly@eircom.net

d'Oracle

TheDriver wrote: »

and keep away from murphys book, its awful.

It really isn't.
Its a very good text book for learning the rudiments of applied maths.

TheDriver

Suppose its personal opinion but from teaching the subject for 10 years, i would rate Conliffes at the bottom, Murphys was ok but new edition is only the old one with new cover whereas Dominicks has a lot of work and insight. But its every teachers choice but most I talk to would prefer Dominicks book.