WTF? The pro-formula science GCSE

[Longtalljosie]

The above is not me being sad. That's me turning the air blue...

www.nct.org.uk/press-office/press-releases/view/224

I have OL Chemistry and I am a bit disturbed I can hardly answer anything on that paper.

I had to tell someone.
It was too disturbing to keep to myself.

what, the pubes or the fact that you can't answer the exam?

'kin' hell.

That is absolutely bloody outrageous.

Surprised there aren't GCSE examiners up & down the country kicking up dickens...

Apart from the obvious, the question is bizarre in that;

It initially says the milk contains calcium carbonate

part ii) says on analysis, it doesn't contain calcium carbonate

part b) asks why it's a good thing the milk contains calcium carbonate

Errrr....

How on earth was that question allowed to be in the exam? Doesn't anyone check the quality of exam questions?

Sounds like a shit science question apart from anything else.

The question must have been checked, so the only conclusion that you can draw is that it was approved. Makes you wonder about the "ethics" agenda. Somebody is having a deliberate laugh with the reference to "Mrs I. M. Right". I wonder what else gets approved under the guise of "ethics". I wouldn't be surprised if they represented someone who didn't believe the global warming theory as "Mrs. Flatearther".

If someone is able to do a text search of past papers, I would be intrigued to know if a Mrs. I.M. Wrong turns up as an opponent of nuclear power, or a Mrs. I. M. Ignorant appears as an opponent of genetically modified food. I expect Mrs. I.M. Right will not be the only such person who makes an appearance in GCSE science papers.

There's a Master's dissertation in this, surely.

Dissertation.... Theory. Person responsible for setting science exam question has themselves/wife/partner/girlfriend recently been upset by a run in with strident NCT member bullying them about the 'evils of formula milk'. (And a few of us have been there, trust me) Having sunk a bottle of wine one evening, decides to parody said member as 'Mrs I M Right' in an exam question in order to get their own back. Mirroring the plot of 'Crazy People' (1990 Dudley Moore, Darryl Hannah) the question is rubber-stamped through the approval process and makes it onto the paper.

I think this is really appalling. I am sure that there are standards and strict checks on what goes in exam papers - how on earth did this get through?

I didn't even want to click on this because I just felt so angry reading the title.

I am so sick of patriarchal propaganda and of all the institutions who accept backhanders from corporations to peddle their wares.

Heaven forbid we allow it to get out that women actually do anything necessary and vital to the human race . BEst squash that notion at every possible turn.

Women: make sure you get your breast implants, there's good girls; that's all your breasts are good for. Leave milk making to the big boys.

I'm a science teacher. Pupils are exacted these days to critically analyse material as well as understand the science. I find it hilarious all the shock horror daily mail responses of people here. Please see the whole thing in context including the questions asked before getting so worried.

glad to have been of service on the hilarity front, oh misser of the big picture.

thanks for mentioning the great Daily Mail, the paper that goes where others fear to tread. Found another example of the "ethics" being promoted to children.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1179782/GCSE-pupils-brainwashed-support-MMR-vaccine.html

It seems it's a bit like subliminal advertising, the message is slipped in and gains its power by the fact that an official examination body has approved it. I wonder what other orthodoxies are promoted in a similar fashion?

Saily Mail responses? The "question" - which was provided fits so well with the Daily Hate's general agenda on infant feeding that one could even surmise a common source of editorial influence.

Seriously - the NCT's identification of corporate sources as potentially being behond this question might not be so wide of the mark. It sounds a bit mad - but then so does the idea that tobacco companies would try and minimise the public's perception of the risks of secondhand smoke by publishing junk articles and books arguing that keeping opet birds was a leading cause of lung cancer. Yet their own internal documents show that this is true. The tobacco industry also infiltrated the WHO, and so did the sugar industry to influence its reports - how much easier to get into an exam board!

WRT to formula - these are massive companies with massive profits. And I can't help noticing that middle class girls (the types who will be taking GCSE chemistry, or will marry men who have taken it) are the most likely to breatfeed after they have thier babies. This strikes as a very useful preemptive strike on attitudes to formula feeding to me...

Daily Mail obv.

the comments section in the Daily Mail article spell it out. It is social engineering.

Arf at "Daily Mail responses of people here"

Very interesting comment in the Mail article from a young person who had done her GCSEs 5 years earler

"I only did my GCSEs about 5 years ago and I can still remember the amount of questions phrased in this way, especially in History and RE exams. Getting us to consider the 'bias' in an argument was a way to get us thinking from all perspectives, but it certainly felt as though we were encouraged to compromise our own opinions (no matter how viable) in favour of the 'correct' (politically correct) answer. I wouldn't worry about indocrination though - pupils are too busy jumping through hoops to actually absorb any point of view the education system tries to throw at them. They're just memorising what answer pleases all the 'clever' grown-ups."

Interesting to know what happens in history GCSE exams in particular, where the potential for rewriting history must be tempting. Has Winston moved from his cubicle in the Ministry of Truth to a plush office in an examination board?

that's very interesting, claig. and of course twas ever thus with nebulous exams such as english, where you knew an appreciation of siegfried sassoon was a guarantee of a high mark, regardless of what you actually thought. not so good when the subject is ethics, though.

exactly right Aitch, there are certain canons that mustn't be challenged. The clever children know the score, play the game and parrot what they know is expected of them, but other children are influenced by the subliminal messages about ff and other issues.

Bulby - I don't see much critical analysis going on in that question. Yes, they are asked to critically analyse Mrs I M Right's opinions, but they need factual information in order to carry out that analysis.

What factual information have the examinees been supplied with? Instead they have been offered lies, half-truths, and derogatory attitudes, and have been expected to believe them as reliable facts.