General Topics

This page contains various contributions from parents, teachers, university academics among others. Topics of interest include: Physics , Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Assessment, General Comments, Panel and Verification, Letters and Responses Letters & Responses.

Most of this page was written before the EIC Parliamentary Inquiry.

Physics

  • Disillusioned teacher: I have been teaching for 25 years and now refuse to take a Physics class and get sadder and more stressed every year with senior maths. I wish you every success, for the kids’ sake! Last Change: 2012-06-01 13:23:14
  • Disservice to students: Thanks for organising this important meeting. Fully support your initiatives and will be glad to attend. I’m currently a Senor Physics teacher but have taught Senior Maths A, B, C etc.  and Physics for over 30 years. I strongly feel like so many of my colleagues that ... Last Change: 2012-05-31 13:11:17
  • Fizz-iks: I am a Curriculum Coordinator/Physics/Maths teacher at a private secondary school. I happened to hear your interview on 612AM Brisbane radio today and I could not agree with you more about the misfortunate direction that physics education in Queensland has taken in the last decade. ... Last Change: 2012-05-30 00:34:03
  • This generation is being short changed I have joined the long list of teachers who do not wish to be involved in teaching ‘senior’ science courses anymore…I have seen the hours devoted to science teaching cut back to a bare minimum, the amount of content has been halved so students ‘know” far less than they used to.
  • Summary of thoughts on the Physics Syllabus This year (being a beginner), I have tried to use criteria sheets provided by others. I have tried to modify them somewhat and still have not succeeded in being able to use them with any confidence when assessing a student’s worth. Last Change: 15/01/2010 15:50
  • Experience of a Fresh Graduate Teacher I thought I would write and share my experience as a fresh graduate implementing the new syllabus and why I won’t be teaching it next year. Last Change: 15/01/2010 15:51
  • Educational Gobbledygook I am no longer a teacher, but a project / report manager. Last Change: 15/01/2010 15:51
  • Concerns of a Physics Teacher: In my part of the world there were few complaints from those who still remained on the 1995 syllabus. I would like to know where the QSA collected their data from or was it just a case of those who shouted the loudest? Last Change: 15/02/2010 15:38
  • The New Syllabus is a Muddle: The curriculum body has turned a cut-and-dried subject into a flowery project. Last Change: 15/01/2010 16:26
  • Senior Physics Audit Tool A set of audit tools for teachers, developed by the QSA, to better guide them to what is expected.
  • Chemistry and Physics: Advice for teachersThe importance of instrument-specific criteria and standards: Moving on from marks. Queensland Studies Authority Advice for Teachers Last Change: 15/01/2010 16:29

 

Mathematics

  • Mathematics assessment in Queensland Schools needs improvement urgently.: 1)  A central authority could outline the general requirements for a series of exam papers, such as having a suitable range of difficulty level, a range of theoretical and practical questions, familiar to unfamiliar, and a range from short response to extended.  There would be ... Last Change: 2013-03-14 11:03:29
  • Marks in Senior Maths: We still use marks in all of our Maths assessment in both KAPS and MAPS. To collect the data on students. I know this is frowned upon by QSA. However, I find marks are the best way to give student feedback on progress and also ... Last Change: 2012-06-15 12:03:24
  • On School Maths: Perhaps you too, have noticed that school graduates no longer know their times-tables, cannot add fractions or do long division? Even at [University name removed], we are finding that the students starting science and engineering degrees are not confident with standard mathematical skills.  Mathematics is the ... Last Change: 2012-06-07 11:27:57
  • Disillusioned teacher: I have been teaching for 25 years and now refuse to take a Physics class and get sadder and more stressed every year with senior maths. I wish you every success, for the kids’ sake! Last Change: 2012-06-01 13:23:14
  • Queensland high school mathematics needs a back-to-thinking revision Twenty years ago, high school graduates entering university could pass the Leo Howard Test. Now they struggle with differentiation, trigonometry, algebra and even adding fractions..
  • Maths A criteria This year we were advised by panel to assess students in the CAJ domain with extra rigor so that we may strengthen the position of our higher ended students…
  • Maths Assignment marking sheet. Real-life ‘marking’ sheets showing how letters are collected instead of weighted numbers that used to be added up before.
  • Maths Exam marking sheet. Real-life ‘marking’ sheets showing how letters are collected instead of weighted numbers that used to be added up before.
  • Assessment procedures and other pressing issues: The first part of this article uses mathematics as the focal point but the principles elaborated upon can be applied to other subjects.  At the end, there is a summary of what I believe desperately needs to be done to improve aspects of the system. Last Change: 15/02/2010 9:56
  • Thoughts on QSA syllabai: The implementation is poorly organised and does not support to the teachers at the chalkface. We look unprofessional and there are many unanswered questions. Last Change: 15/02/2010 9:55
  • Remarks from a senior maths teacher: My criticism of the new mathematics syllabus (Maths A, B, and C) cannot be more severe. I think it would be impossible to write a syllabus with more shortcomings than the one QSA has produced. I would like to raise several points. Last Change: 15/01/2010 16:05
  • Concerned teacher and review panellist: Support from QSA in terms of expectations and teacher professional development has been minimal in relation to these proposed changes. Last Change: 15/01/2010 16:07
  • An abbreviation of concerns raised by mathematics teachers at a QSA meeting: If there was ever a good reason to return to the days when maths was tested by maths tests then the three Queensland Senior school Maths assessment guides gives some food for thought. Last Change: 22/02/2010 10:35
  • Complaints about the MAA/B/C syllabai: The Modelling and Problem Solving standards descriptors in MAB and MAC don’t actually say that kids have to “solve” problems. Last Change: 15/01/2010 15:58
  • New Maths A syllabus: It is proving very difficult to write assessment tasks. It is difficult to ensure that all the criteria are being met and also it is difficult to determine how to assess it in such a way that you can prove the criteria are being met. Last Change: 15/02/2010 9:53
  • Teachers’ opinions trivialised: I have attended many of the workshops and there is little or no opportunity for teachers to express their unhappiness with the new syllabi. Last Change: 15/02/2010 9:51
  • Shortfalls of the QSA: It is interesting to note that as a response to the issues that we have raised (such as the writing and grading of assessment) the Queensland Studies Authority have held themselves up as being well-placed to deliver professional development. Last Change: 15/01/2010 16:01

QSA  documents:

 

Chemistry

  • Feedback from a Chemistry Teacher: I listened to your video. A few points of feedback. You have not mentioned that the Chemistry and Physics syllabi are now context-based. The most recent version only requires one context per year, but originally, it was fully context based. I have been involved in teaching ... Last Change: 2012-07-16 14:51:28
  • Senior science is a nightmare: I fully support your actions in bringing attention to the crisis in science education.  Senior science is now a nightmare, and science teachers are expected to implement an ideologically driven agenda that has no concern for students. The assessment regime is “over the top.”  English teachers ... Last Change: 2012-06-05 22:24:32
  • Why EEIs and ERTs are not good assessment methods in chemistry: The school year is crowded. Public holidays, sports days, reporting deadlines, co-curricular activities, QCS practice, pastoral care initiatives, together with shortened lessons for school assemblies and ceremonies all cut into the time available for teaching and learning. It often seems that there is barely time ... Last Change: 2012-05-30 09:15:50

 

Biology

  • Boys avoiding Biology: I teach Chemistry and Biology. I despair at the fact that Biology is now little more than a science themed humanities course. The apocalypse in Biology happened in 2004, when we were the first science to get the crazy new “no marks allowed system”. We ... Last Change: 2012-07-02 11:56:33
  • As a parent and teacher: As a parent of high school children, and a teacher at the primary school level, I concur with all that has been articulated thus far and applaud your efforts and time on this issue. As an example, one of my children studies Biology in Yr12 ... Last Change: 2012-06-15 12:15:16
  • Biology's Situation: I am not sure if you are aware of Biology’s situation so I would like to fill you in: 1. Back in the early 2000′s, after Chem and Physics told the QSA that they were not happy with the new syllabii during the original trial, Biology’s ... Last Change: 2012-06-15 11:57:13
  • Senior Biology Audit Tool A set of audit tools for teachers, developed by the QSA, to better guide them to what is expected.
  • Advice for Biology Teachers The importance of instrument-specific criteria and standards: Moving on from marks: Advice for Biology Teachers

 

 General Comments

  • External exams - comments from a school principal: Hubbard’s has been involved with preparing students to sit External exams in Queensland since 1952. Hubbard’s used to be a private company. Since 2001, it has been an accredited non-state school  just like a Grammar School or your local independent school.  I have been associated ... Last Change: 2012-08-10 19:07:34
  • Regarding Summary of Meeting with Hon. JP Langbroek: On the 4 points, a few thoughts. 1.     A review – fine – I am a bit concerned at the OP – each school is pulling kids that are not doing well so the OP cohort is getting smaller and smaller. In addition, many/most schools are ... Last Change: 2012-08-01 15:36:04
  • Vagueness and Subjectivity : QSA have prepared an excellent rich task for Year 9 Mathematics.  It’s this year’s QCAT task.  But the assessment method that QSA proposes for it seems onerous and subjective.  I don’t know how they can think it’s “world’s best practice”.  It’s called a “GTMJ” (Guide ... Last Change: 2012-07-16 15:00:32
  • Teaching to the Test: As a teacher of 30+ years experience (mainly Senior Maths but now asked to again teach Physics) I remain concerned by the fact that schools continue to offer the same tests and assignments at the same time each year. Test instruments that have passed through the ... Last Change: 2012-07-09 15:37:46
  • Frustrating and Disappointing: The inability for the QSA to deliver useful direction regarding the implementation and actioning of the senior science syllabi has been extremely frustrating and disappointing.  They have created a “monster” that they have little control and understanding of with regard to how teachers across the ... Last Change: 2012-06-22 09:56:48
  • The Most Unproductive Education System in the World: At Last!…  Please excuse my exuberance but I’ve been waiting years and years for people to come to their senses and protest about the complex, unfair and extremely work- intensive system of education we have in Queensland.  Were it producing high standards, one could possibly ... Last Change: 2012-06-20 15:14:39
  • Unacceptable workload: I teach in Brisbane.  I would have loved to come to the meeting but I am caught up in the very thing that the meeting is about, that is the massive workload that the system has imposed on us. Reports are due on Monday and I still ... Last Change: 2012-06-18 12:29:02
  • Stress, Workload and Assessment : It is concerning that to me that QSA seem to be trying to introduce this nonsense into the assessment criteria for Year 10 under the Australian Curriculum.  We certainly don’t need this level of workload in Year 10, as well as 11 and 12. It is ... Last Change: 2012-06-15 15:51:25
  • Laborious and Subjective : I would like to voice my wholehearted support for this movement for QSA to review their assessment policies for Maths and Science. I have been a teacher of both maths and science (main area is Senior Physics) for 17 years. In all of my experience to date, I have ... Last Change: 2012-06-15 15:21:47
  • Ironic Shame: I would like very much to attend the meeting on June 16th, however I am currently overwhelmed by the demands of marking senior Chemistry classes assessment (EEIs and criteria based examinations). I have also been advised by colleagues not to attend on the grounds it may ... Last Change: 2012-06-14 13:31:30
  • Stress and Distress of Students: From my perspective as both a parent and a professional who has worked closely with young people I am very supportive of any iniative which challenges the current system. Personally I have three daughters who have completed year 12 and one daughter who is currently in ... Last Change: 2012-06-14 13:22:03
  • Content is King: Much as been written lately in the press about the success of Asian education: particularly regarding schooling in Singapore and China. The main emphasis of these reports is that vigour, examinations, pertinent content and well qualified educationists are the keys to quality education. In contrast education in ... Last Change: 2012-05-31 16:24:56
  • Letter to the QSA Last year, we were heavily criticised at verification with an alarming ‘down scaling’ of our students’ LoAs.  An appeal to SRPC resulted in a further drop. Last Change: 15/01/2010 15:53
  • Why education experts resist effective practices. Article by Professor Douglas Carnine. Doug examines several instances where educators either have introduced reforms without testing them first, or ignored (or deprecated) research when it did not yield the results they wanted.
  • Dialogue Issue 2 pg 8-15 Articles by John Ridd and Matt Dean, published in the LNP Dialogue magazine, Issue 2, 2012.
  • Assessment for a Science Teacher. An overview of the workload required of a senior science teacher.2012-08-24
  • Points raised by “The status and Quality of Year 11 and 12 Science in Australia” report. Comments by a teacher of 25 years. 2012-08-24
  • Assessment, Teacher Workload and Student Standards This report contains the experiences of 10 high school teachers of maths and science. Last Change: 2012-08-02.
  • Time wasted Too many of our recent after-school meetings and evening TDMTA meetings have had to be devoted to scrutinising everyone’s interpretations… Last Change: 22/02/2010 11:54
  • We need external exams I object to the QSA’s policy of fullest and latest in submitting assessment items for senior Biology. Last Change: 22/02/2010 11:56
  • An Organisational Fable: The world, from a frog’s perspective. Last Change: 22/02/2010 11:57
  • An abbreviation of concerns raised by mathematics teachers at a QSA meeting: If there was ever a good reason (or several) to return to the days when maths was tested by maths tests, not assignments, then the following three Queensland Senior school Maths assessment guides gives some food for thought… Last Change: 22/02/2010 11:58
  • Introducing Change: Analogy of a McDonalds Maths Burger: Perhaps there are a few lessons here for the QSA. Last Change: 15/01/2010 16:13
  • Out with the politics: I have already been read the “Code of Conduct” relating to my employment over this issue…. Last Change: 15/01/2010 16:14
  • Fear of Retribution: There is a lot of concern from my teachers that they will be victimised if they show up at your meeting and give their names. Last Change: 15/02/2010 15:40
  • Time consuming: The setting and marking of assessment tasks has also involved a much greater expenditure of time compared to the previous syllabus. Last Change: 15/02/2010 15:39
  • Experience at QSA meetings The most difficult part has been in writing assessment, and there has been a noticeable lack of examples, let alone exemplars from the QSA. Last Change: 15/02/2010 15:38
  • Concerns of a Physics Teacher: In my part of the world there were few complaints from those who still remained on the 1995 syllabus. I would like to know where the QSA collected their data from or was it just a case of those who shouted the loudest? Last Change: 15/02/2010 15:38
  • Report on Maths, Physics, and Chemistry Teacher Meeting: Summary of teacher responses regarding the new syllabus, and proposed resolutions from a 2009 meeting. Last Change: 15/01/2010 16:22
  • The New Syllabus is a Muddle: The curriculum body has turned a cut-and-dried subject into a flowery project. Last Change: 15/01/2010 16:26
  • Current syllabus concerns: ..the schools who took up the initial trials were those already sympathetic to the new way of assessment and effective dumbing down of content. Last Change: 11/02/2010 12:28

 

Assessment

  • Mathematics assessment in Queensland Schools needs improvement urgently.: 1)  A central authority could outline the general requirements for a series of exam papers, such as having a suitable range of difficulty level, a range of theoretical and practical questions, familiar to unfamiliar, and a range from short response to extended.  There would be ... Last Change: 2013-03-14 11:03:29
  • Education assessment in QLD schools: As a psychologist, who has worked with both adolescents and teachers, it has been my experience that students have been discouraged to achieve and may, rather, experience feelings of failure.  At the same time, many teachers are feeling burnt out, stressed and are leaving the ... Last Change: 2012-07-02 12:00:28
  • Why QSA’s assessment system is wrong: Currently all assessment in Queensland schools are school based, meaning each teacher sets the exam papers, marks them and grades their students. In my opinion this form of assessment lends itself to many abuses and makes comparison of performance between schools meaningless. Listed below are ... Last Change: 2012-06-15 12:38:39
  • Concerns on Assessment: My major concerns on assessment centre around the following: 1. Despite stated word limits for tasks, the limits refer only to a relatively small proportion of the total assignment – this is particularly true in the EEI 2. The ability to communicate clearly and precisely underpins success ... Last Change: 2012-06-13 12:09:51
  • QSA system encourages teacher cheating: I have been teaching science in Brisbane for 15 years, and I have worked in the state and independent sectors. A very important issue that I think needs to be raised about the current QSA assessment system is that it allows, and in fact fosters, ... Last Change: 2012-06-04 11:24:45

 

Panel and Verification

  • QSA system encourages teacher cheating: I have been teaching science in Brisbane for 15 years, and I have worked in the state and independent sectors. A very important issue that I think needs to be raised about the current QSA assessment system is that it allows, and in fact fosters, ... Last Change: 2012-06-04 11:24:45
  • QSA Issues: As the result of my experience of last year’s verification, which I describe below, I would like to suggest that the only certain way to be sure of fair and accurate assessment is to have external assessment, either whole or in part. I say this ... Last Change: 2012-05-29 23:37:52

 

Letters and Responses

QSA

  • Letter to QSA  I write to you as a retiring state panellist with over 17 years of service on the Visual Art State Review Panel. Prior to this I have also acted as District Panel Chair… August 2013
  • Letter from QSA regarding issues 6&7 QSA’s reply to Pat Whalen’s comments on issues 6 & 7 (see QSA responds!). 16th August 2012.
  • Letter from the Acting Director at QSA: February 2010
  • Letter to the QSA Last year, we were heavily criticised at verification with an alarming ‘down scaling’ of our students’ LoAs. An appeal to SRPC resulted in a further drop. January 2010

Teachers’ Unions

Members of Parliament

Media