LEAVING CERT: ENGINEERING:THE INNER workings of an iPhone as well as Steve Jobs's contribution to technology were just some of the topics that greeted engineering students in exam halls yesterday. The effort made to heave the subject into the 21st century was noted and greatly appreciated by teachers and students.
Although they had a full day of exams yesterday, engineering technology students were at least safe in the knowledge that a full 50 per cent of their marks were already taken care of in the form of practical assignments. The exam posed few problems to those who were well-prepared.
“It was a nice paper,” said David Monaghan, chairman of the Engineering Technology Teachers’ Association. “It tested a very, very broad range of topics, but if students had covered a range of areas they would have been fine.”
Part of the paper involved a compulsory question about a special research topic that had been assigned to students.
This year they had been asked to research the principles and operation of an accelerometer – the piece of technology that enables the screen of an iPhone or a digital camera to flip upright, no matter which way you hold it.
“We were very happy with that special research topic,” Mr Monaghan said. “It was great to see students researching technology that was so relevant to their own experience. The accelerometer is used in all sorts of things – the Nintendo Wii, for example. The question about it on the paper was in-depth, but it shouldn’t have posed a problem to students who had done their research.”
Mr Monaghan was also pleased with the question on mechanisms at the end of the paper. “This linked into a project that students had done earlier in the year,” he explained. “Students had already designed and manufactured a working model of a gantry container crane earlier in the year and it was nice for them to be able to link that knowledge back to the exam.”
The rest of the questions at higher level were good, according to Mr Monaghan. “If students had the work done, they should have had no problems,” he said.
About one-fifth of the 5,000 engineering students opted for the ordinary level paper this year. There were no surprises here, according to Mr Monaghan.
“There was a wide range of topics covered but the same depth wouldn’t have been required,” he said. “It was a good paper. There were no surprises for students who had put the work in.”
