Changes in Mathematics Core Curriculum and Matriculation Exam in the Light of the COVID-19-Shock

The new National Core Curriculum came into force in September 2020 in Hungarian schools. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a deep impact on the final stages of its development. In this paper we have selected two areas for analysis: the fundamental principles of mathematics curriculum and the matriculation exam in mathematics. We propose improvements in both fields, further emphasizing the importance of skills in displaying, understanding and processing information, including visual information obtained as a source or outcome of a problem. We argue that representation, interpretation, and critical evaluation of data and information must be essential parts of the mathematics curriculum. In this context, we also propose a new type of task for the matriculation exam: a complex essay task. The ultimate goal is the development of cross-cutting competencies to support students to become citizens who can make responsible decisions based on the data and knowledge available.

Matriculation Exams in Geography - from the Most Desired, to the Most Rapidly Avoided

The article provides a retrospective review of the mandatory state matriculation examinations in Bulgarian language and the second elective subject conducted in the period 2008-2021. Official data obtained on the basis of applications under the Access to Information Act were used. The total number of those who appeared at the matriculation exam in geography and economics and their grades in it are compared with the data for the other general matriculation subjects. The dynamics in the number of pupils attending all kinds of exams is monitored. Different tendencies stand out, which are explained by the action of general and specific factors. The reasons for the low results and the consequences of the headlong decline of those wishing to take the matriculation exam in geography and economics are indicated.

Learning and Teaching Mathematics with Online Social Networks: The Case of Facebook

We present here a study in which a digital-based communication platform is used for collaborative work in the learning and teaching processes. In this case, we focused on Facebook as the online social network to help motivate high-school students to become well prepared for their Bagrut (matriculation) exam in mathematics. To this end, the Center for Educational Technology (CET) established a “virtual review session” on Facebook before the exam in which 614 students and 16 teachers participated. We aimed to answer two questions: what learning and teaching opportunities can Facebook offer to prepare students for the mathematics matriculation exam? and how do students and teachers perceive learning processes via social networks? Our analysis was qualitative. The findings indicate that Facebook, for one, can offer excellent learning and teaching opportunities as a result of the interactions that evolve between the students themselves and between the students and teachers. For the students, this digital social platform helps promote peer evaluation, exposes them to a wide range of questions and solutions, and fosters the development of mathematical thinking and creativity. For the teachers, it helps expand their technological and pedagogical-mathematical knowledge.

Wiedza maturzystów o Unii Europejskiej – analiza na podstawie egzaminu z wiedzy o społeczeństwie w latach 2010–2019

In the article, the Author analyses all EU-related tasks in Polish matriculation exam in civic education from the years 2010–2019. The empirical material also includes the rules for assessing tasks’ solutions and exam reports. The level of civic knowledge of young people is not high, but the knowledge about EU-related issues is even worse (it was confirmed that in each type of matriculation exam results of the EU-related tasks were in general lower than the average result of the entire exam in civic education). The analysis also demonstrates that the population of those who pass the „new exam” exam in civic education is qualitatively weaker than the population of those who pass the „old exam”, however, in the EU-related tasks these differences are smaller than the difference in the results of both exam’s formulas (it was confirmed that generally the level of solutions of EU-related tasks in the „new exam” is lower than in the „old exam”, but to a lesser extent than the difference between the average results of these both types of exams).

A Coalition of Good Will: History Instruction in Secondary Education

Chapter 7 is dedicated to secondary education and the matriculation exam. Although only comprising a fraction of the student population, these private and governmental schools represented Palestine’s Ivy League. History instruction in these schools, which was heavily influenced by the Department’s Matriculation exam, was frequently discussed in meetings of the Palestine Board for Higher Studies (PBHS) that oversaw secondary and postsecondary education. This pedagogical attention was clearly disproportional to its quantitative share in the student population. Analysis of PBHS’ internal debates and the history syllabi of secondary schools sheds much light on the relationship between history teaching, identity, and nationalism.