IRSE News 138 Oct 08.pdf

SECTION NEWS
IRSE
One of the intentions of the event was to encourage candidates for
the October exam to attempt mock papers prior to attending the
workshop. Copies of the module 2 layout for 2003 were sent out
and those students who wanted feedback on their attempt invited
to return it to be looked at by Peter or Reuben. For others there
was a self-marking guide and a typical answer provided.
For module 3 a bespoke mock exam paper was produced
containing a typical selection of questions requiring essay (or “long
answer”) type answers. However, in part A for the Control Table
questions, instead of a typical IRSE layout, the plan of Signet’s
demonstration panel and interlocking was provided as the layout
for which the Control Tables were requested. This approach
permitted the demonstration of the actual locking during the
informal periods at the event in order to try to help to clear up
difficulties in understanding which can occur when locking is
represented only by symbols in a control table cell.Not everyone
took the opportunity to do mock exams and fewer felt that they
wanted to send in their work in advance; however, the event was
planned primarily around the needs of those who did. For example
time, would not have permitted coverage of all the ten part B
questions, so the selection was made based upon the quantity and
quality of the answers previously received.
The Weekend itself
Each day started with a coffee and a tempting continental
breakfast in the lounge area of Signet’s training centre; however,
there is no such thing as a free breakfast and this was
accompanied by the return of one’s preparatory work with
comments to review. Even those who hadn’t submitted anything
didn’t escape since there was a self
assessment exercise to perform.
This was also a chance for people to
mix with other attendees whilst
looking over their work and
comparing them to a set of worked
solutions.
On the Saturday there was a
short introduction to the weekend
and the options within the timetable
before the group split between the
two classrooms. Generally, Reuben’s
sessions concentrated on instilling
the core concepts required to
perform the basic task of signalling
the layout, where as Peter’s sessions
assumed a higher level of base
knowledge and attempted to extend this in particular areas so
that a candidate would be able to make a better attempt at the
exam.
Reuben was able to whisk through the concepts in just four
sessions by drawing upon his experience in teaching IST and
AST courses; a summary equally valuable to those struggling to
grasp the key points and as a reminder for those who had
previously studied but whose memory had faded in the interim.
If a student felt confident in a specific area, there was an
opportunity to attend an alternative session run by Peter and get
some understanding of some of the more complex issues; useful
for people confident with the basics and looking to sharpen their
skills, perhaps to attain a credit or distinction. In the last
session the people who had submitted their layout in advance
were able to get one to one feedback on how they had
performed and where they might look to improve.
The Saturday session was brought to a conclusion by Jesper
Philips who gave a 30 minute talk about his recent experience in
taking the exam. As the current Thorrowgood Scholar he was
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Issue 138 October 2008
IRSE
NEWS