Reply to: Cretins are two-a-penny since the debasement of education started in the early 90s.

[EternalOptimist]

Electronics in 1976
History in 1986

[AtW]

Is this a maths puzzle?

No, it's his IQ...

[doodab]

85, 95, 2002...

Is this a maths puzzle?

[Old Hack]

85, 95, 2002...

[sasguru]

Keep at it, you will crack it one day.

Do you think that will happen before or after you start being funny?

[NotAllThere]

I covered integration and differentiation in AO Maths in 1984, not in the O level Maths I did in 1983. I'm glad it's taught now at a younger age, as it isn't exactly difficult... though do they have to do any of the proofs?

My son (2nd year Physics student) doesn't use calculus any more - he uses group theory to do whatever he needs to do - it's more powerful than calculus. Currently he's doing differential topology. I certainly didn't do that at university.

[proggy]

That's the subject I've been dealing with in the last 10 odd years, but I'm sure its the same in Engineering, Physics or whatever you care to name

Keep at it, you will crack it one day.

[sasguru]

So it's all to do with maths?

That's the subject I've been dealing with in the last 10 odd years, but I'm sure its the same in Engineering, Physics or whatever you care to name

[proggy]

Hmm, that's odd. I did the last year of O levels and I am sure we did integration and differentiation at some level. Can't remember calculus though...

Integration and Differentiation ARE Calculus, it's the first thing you are taught usually single variable then multi then differential equations etc

[northernladuk]

I did O level maths in 1984.
My son is doing GCSE maths course now - he's covering stuff like calculus and integration that wasn't done till A Level when I was at school.

Hmm, that's odd. I did the last year of O levels and I am sure we did integration and differentiation at some level. Can't remember calculus though...

[mudskipper]

I did O level maths in 1984.
My son is doing GCSE maths course now - he's covering stuff like calculus and integration that wasn't done till A Level when I was at school.

[AtW]

Some people are just plain thick and won't understand the material however long they take.

Soviet methods can deal with this also.

[d000hg]

Like what?

It's hard for me to say since I didn't do the older papers, but I don't believe all the stats stuff would have been covered... there are enough stats modules to fill a whole A-level these days. Also decision maths, and probably a few bits and pieces of different integral techniques since you can pick & choose from so many different ones!

I seem to recall GCSEs also started covering matrix math as a new thing but it was some years ago. I definitely recall my A-level teacher (who had been teaching for decades) saying it was not ALL one-way traffic.

There are something like 16 maths modules one can do these days, and an A-level is 4. Ergo, there must be more stuff than there was in total, because even falling standards would not cover the syllabus shrinking 75%

[TheFaQQer]

Not really. There is hard evidence:

1. Talk to any long time professor of maths and every single one will tell you of falling standards.
2. Buy any standard university maths books that's been through several editions. The later editions will invariably have supplementary material that would have been mastered at A-level pre-90s.
Some are obliged to have O-level material.
3. many of the best unis have been forced to change from 3-year to 4-year degrees in tough subjects.
4. My rates are sky high because new grads of the requisite quality are just not coming through.

So it's all to do with maths?

[sasguru]

They do teach things that didn't use to be covered too of course. .

Like what?