NCEA grading - more PC rubbish

[hXc]

Spelling blah blah

I'm fifteen, nothin' wrong with my spelling...Is there?

[Motu]

A = 50-70%
M = 70-85%
E = 85-100%

.

So what's wrong with numbers? Why have they replaced numbers 1 to 100 with 4 letters? Everyone can understand a numerical system....should we replace the celcius scale with letters? V,H,M,T and B?

[merv]

I'm fifteen, nothin' wrong with my spelling...Is there?

Nah you're good, that's why I'm praising KB, those on here are forced to spell right or the Fuhrer gives you a lesson.

As for NCEA, we went through it all in my household as my daughter was one of the guinea pig year and at times I could see it wasn't very motivating to her. Now about to start 3rd year Uni she has been a couple years back with a more traditional kind of marking system and she has been happy with that for sure.

[Michaelt]

As for NCEA, we went through it all in my household as my daughter was one of the guinea pig year and at times I could see it wasn't very motivating to her. Now about to start 3rd year Uni she has been a couple years back with a more traditional kind of marking system and she has been happy with that for sure.

I'm also about to start my 3rd year at uni, however I loved NCEA.

Unbelievably easy to get university entrance under NCEA, made my last few years at school a breeze.

Uni requires a bit more hard work and dedication unfortunately, still can't quite get used to it.

[Ixion]

So what's wrong with numbers? Why have they replaced numbers 1 to 100 with 4 letters? Everyone can understand a numerical system....should we replace the celcius scale with letters? V,H,M,T and B?

Given that if the temperature is 273 degrees I dont know whether I'm fried or frozen, unless someone adds whether it is C F or K that may not be a good example.

[Rhino]

The reason I raise this is I have been appalled over the last 10 years at work having young people come to the office that spell so badly even the spell checker on the PC can't guess the right word for them - that leads to the problem that they click on the best guess and its not even the word they should be using. I can't fathom how they ever got a Uni degree with the need to write reports and do exams.

Is NCEA doing anything about restoring that skill or will KB continue through Hitcher's help to be the economic powerhouse saviour of this country?

Well said Merv. Spelling and grammar appear to have vanished from the current school curriculum. The problem with relying on the spell checker in MS-Word is that on many installs it is set to US spelling by default. This means that our NCEA whiz types in "color" and it is accepted, along with "organize" and other American spellings.

Let us hope that Hitcher keeps on keeping on.

[xwhatsit]

Well said Merv. Spelling and grammar appear to have vanished from the current school curriculum. The problem with relying on the spell checker in MS-Word is that on many installs it is set to US spelling by default. This means that our NCEA whiz types in "color" and it is accepted, along with "organize" and other American spellings.

Let us hope that Hitcher keeps on keeping on.

That's a worldwide thing, and has absolutely nothing to do with NCEA. NCEA is like a flea compared to the elephant of global language shift. According to my Uni profs, it's to do with *insert buzzword here* and *something long and difficult to remember, but I still passed OK so it couldn't have been important*.

I think people just need to read more (really old) books. That's how I learned (or re-learned) English, from Dickens and those geezers. They've been translated into many languages, which makes it easy. I think that might be why many second-language immigrants often speak much better (formal) English than we do.

[Romeo]

[rant]

NCEA was pretty pathetic really, it doesn't encourage you to do anything but the bare minimum. For instance, you could spend 2 hours on a graphics design task to get an "achieved", 10 hours to get a "distinction", or if you were completely lacking a life you could spend 20+ hours to get an "excellence". All of which are worth the same amount of credits, and the reference to the fact that you achieved an "Excellence" for X task doesn't actually appear anywhere that's likely to be seen. All you get at the end of NCEA is "Congrats, you passed NCEA 1, 2 and 3". Does my future employer give a shit if I spent 20 hours on a pointless make-work task? I'm sure there are philosophical reasons for spending the 20 hours, but in reality it amounts to absolutely nothing.

Anyways, I struck it lucky. I was at the Christchurch College of Computing for 7th form. I'd passed NCEA3 within 6 months ;s. The whole system is retarded.

[/rant]

[scracha]

It's a shocker and it's no wonder so many "public" schools do the IB or Cambridge exams instead. As for the the uni's here...second rate. The government needs to:-
1) Stop trying to get so many students into further education, it's not a suitable choice for many.
2) Bring back apprenticeships
3) Link the number of further education places (and funding) in a particular subject to the demand for jobs.

[Karma]

I'm also about to start my 3rd year at uni, however I loved NCEA.

Unbelievably easy to get university entrance under NCEA, made my last few years at school a breeze.

Uni requires a bit more hard work and dedication unfortunately, still can't quite get used to it.

A ha! Perhaps you've hit the nail on the head there.

A large percentage of kids these days (not all I grant you) can't be bothered with exams and uni, so rather than getting them into trades etc... lets just make the exams easier and give them uni subsidys!

You'll end up with a similar system over here to what we've got in the UK, degree level academics working in call centres and bookshops. Personally with the benefit of hindsight I wish I'd done it differently, would've said no to uni and done a practical based course instead, any jobs you apply for these days have the whole 'must have 3 years working experience' which as a uni grad you just don't have.

[Coyote]

I got all achieveds for physics. I did the bare minimum to pass! I'm quite proud, I got the qualifications without any effort trying to excel

I'm continuing school next year, just make the most of what time I can spend at school to get as many NCEA qualifications possible. I'm most likely to get an apprenticeship next year but just in case I can become a car designer I'll need level 3 graphics. Plus in 7th form you can do whatever you like at metalwork

[MSTRS:Me]

I'm with those that bemoan the fact that there are no 'marks' or percentages...
The fact that A, M and E all equal the same number of credits is bullshit. However, if the number of credits (ie marks) were different for each achievement level, then there would have been no reason to change the old system. Which would have been far more desireable to retain IMO. The only thing about NCEA that IS an improvement is the breakdown of each subjects' component parts - ie Maths now gives results in Algebra, Geometry, Statistics, Number, Problem solving (wtf), Probability. A prospective employer will know where a given applicant's strength lies.

[Storm]

Have to say that having seen and known folks on both sides of the fence-
NCEA blows big time. Teachers hate it, employers hate it, and students learn that you may as well just do the bare minimum, doesnt matter of you go the extra yard.
As someone else said, theres a bloody big difference between knowing half of the subject and knowing three quarters of it

[yungatart]

Not all teachers hate NCEA, nor do all students. Face it, the year 11's,12's and 13's who just got their results know no other system. I hated School C, Ue when I was at school too. Employers need to get a reality check too, it is the system we use and has been in place for a number of years now. There is plenty of easily accessible information out there for parents and employers.
Far Queue, approach your daughter's school - they wiil send newsletters, reports etc to you as well as to her mother, if you ask. Newsletters etc are often available on line, also.The school I work at sends out duplicates to heaps of families.

[Motig]

I too find it hard when theres no percentage mark, but things change, you just have to move with the times. I do like the idea of being accessed over the year rather than everything hanging on one exam at the end of the year. As long as NCEA is left alone we'll get used to it.