This one comes courtesy of frequent commenter, Red Five. It is a question from the CAS-free component of Western Australia’s 2023 Mathematics Specialist exam. Continue reading “WitCH 144: Barge That `Tote”
Month: February 2025
Guy Rundle is on Substack
Regular readers, and those who pay attention to such things, will be aware that Guy Rundle was sacked from the now-revolting Crikey. This came after that scrag Karvelas and her thug ABC bosses whined about Rundle for texting true stuff about Karvelas’s false stuff. Then, the editors of the academic left Arena magazine, for which over many years Rundle has devoted a huge amount of time and concern, posted a note that they were “dismayed” at Rundle’s text to Karvelas’s program, and that they were placing Rundle in purgatory. Because of course nothing trumpets strength and solidarity more than wetting your pants when a colleague suggests that social justice hysteria is a thing. Continue reading “Guy Rundle is on Substack”
Meet the Assessors, if You Pay Enough
Last week, the MAV held their 2025 VCE Conference. The majority of the conference consisted of Meet the Assessors sessions, in which the guys in charge of marking the 2024 exams explained where and how students went wrong (officially, purportedly).1 This was presumably a valuable fleshing out of the important messages from the exam reports and marking guides. For those who were able to be there. For those who paid for the privilege.
The New and Improved Exam Marking Guides Are Out
Last week, VCAA updated their 2024 exam marking guides to be, well, guides to their marking. This is obviously a big improvement over the skeletal guides that appeared early December (which were themselves a massive improvement over the traditional nothing that VCAA has offered). Thank you, Dr. Bennett, once again, and thank you to VCAA for the improved output. New links are below (W,I).
Continue reading “The New and Improved Exam Marking Guides Are Out”
The Liberal-Murdoch Coalition Launches a Culture War Against the Liberal-Murdoch Coalition
UPDATE (03/02/25)
Bita has followed up with an editorial (M,P). It is basically the same article but with more sanctimony and still without a hint of remorse or self-reflection. Bita’s new piece also includes quotes from Alan “Commie Hunter” Finkel, which adds to the charm, and also from John Sweller, which at least pleased Greg Ashman.
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What does one do when a lordly Liberal twit and a stenographic Murdoch reporter join forces to have a go at the clownish ACARA curriculum and its silly Indigenous priority stuff? Whose side do you take? Or, do you just give up, join Team Musk and wait for the next ship to Mars? Continue reading “The Liberal-Murdoch Coalition Launches a Culture War Against the Liberal-Murdoch Coalition”
PoSWW 46: Crafty
There is not much point in posting further on ACARA’s appalling mathematics curriculum. At this stage a person either already understands that the thing is appalling or they will likely never understand. We received a from-nowhere email, however, flagging some Year 4 nonsense that seemed worthy of special mention.
Below is a content-elaboration combo from Year 4 of the (ugh!) Space stream: Continue reading “PoSWW 46: Crafty”
“Why Does Your Blog Have to Be so Nasty?”
Last week, I received an email from Tyler, a long forgotten university student* from, coincidentally, 1990. Tyler wrote,
Marty,
I had you as a sophomore differential equations student in the fall of ‘90 at Rice University. I almost certainly deserved to fail that class, but you recognized my effort (and panic) and helped me turn towards being a better learner. I wanted you to know the impact you had on me and how I appreciate the confidence you instilled in me through your positive and nurturing help. I’m sure I speak for many other young engineering students coming from American public high schools and trying to keep up with such a rapid acceleration in the pace of learning required to survive at Rice when I say a big THANK YOU for being empathetic and human in some of my toughest days. Your teaching made a difference to a generation of Rice students now in our 50s. Blessings to you!
It was a lovely email to receive, of course, but why post it here? It is not in order to talk myself up.
Well, yes, it is in order to talk myself up. It is exhausting being the target, to always be the Bad Guy, and I would like readers to know that at least in the past I had a Jekyll side, that I have not always been an asshole. But it is not the main reason to post it.
Continue reading ““Why Does Your Blog Have to Be so Nasty?””
A Syllabus From 1990
Attached below is a South Australian syllabus from a while back, which fell off the back of someone’s truck. The “Detailed Syllabus Statements” are for Mathematics 1 and Mathematics 2, which played the roles of VCAA’s current Methods and Specialist subjects.* There is also contained the syllabus for Mathematics 1S, a weaker version of Mathematics 1 for students not also taking Mathematics 2. Because, for example, the idea of Methods-only students being bundled with and competing against Methods-and-Specialist students is an idea so idiotic it could only take proper hold in the 21st Century. Continue reading “A Syllabus From 1990”
What is a Study Design?
The current VCE Mathematics Study Design is, of course, appalling. This is not up for debate. I have spent the last few days, however, trying to figure why the SD is appalling. How did it get to be this bad? I am still climbing out of rabbit holes, and falling into new ones, and I hope to write on it all soon. But there appears to be a short answer that explains a lot: it was always appalling. Continue reading “What is a Study Design?”
