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GCSE vs IGCSE: The debate starts again

The IGCSE (international GCSE)
Some schools in the UK have now moved fully or at least partly over the IGCSE based qualifications. These qualifications now come by several names but the essence of them is the same. They offer a more “traditional” teaching with more emphasis on final exams and less time spent doing coursework and controlled assessment. Some highly regarded educators see this as beneficial to their school and pupils.

“… Controlled assessments are cumbersome and time-consuming and restrict the ability of schools like [ours] to provide inspirational teaching for the most able pupils… “
 Head Teacher, UK

Another facto... [More]

Tags: Government Policy, IGCSE, Teaching Maths

Recently there has been a large stream of Maths and Science videos to entertain us on BBC 4. Some of these programs have managed to bring in much larger audiences than you might expect. There is no doubt that at least some maths teachers will use these programs at some point but are they worth watching in your own home. First of all, what type of programs are we talking about? I have chosen three programs to look at to give you an idea of what is available. The first program we will look at is “The Joy of Stats” presented by Hans Rosling. This is a lively view on the world of statistics and gives the viewer a good sense on how statistics is been used to achieve things like language translat... [More]

Tags: Maths, Maths and TV, The Joy of Stats, Marcus Du Sautoy, Teaching Maths, The Story of Maths, Beautiful Equations