Top students cry over exam

HyuugaNeji

14 Oct 09, 09:38

If they are top students, then they wont be crying. I am sure there will be a few students who scored very well and laughing their way to a party.

meltz

14 Oct 09, 10:31

MOE trying to fill up ITE vacancies .... and let FT fill up Uni :lol:

fudgester

14 Oct 09, 10:57

Originally posted by dkcx:

The science syllabus has hardly changed over the years and even the O's science syallbus is not significantly different from that 10 yrs ago.

Maths is the only subject that has drastic and frequent changes.

Yeah.... I was stunned when I saw things like Secant Rule and 3D geometry in my tuition kid's O Level syllabus....

I have a friggin' degree in Mechanical Engineering, and I swear that I had never heard of Secant Rule until I saw it in my student's textbook.....

As for 3D geometry, I only learnt it in JC. And the way it was taught in the O Level textbook was..... dumb. I actually had to teach my student how to properly visualize the 3D shapes and to project them onto a 2D plane - simple concepts which I learnt in JC (but which the textbook didn't seem to teach).

QX179R

14 Oct 09, 14:18

PSLE Chinese papers - some may have edge over others

The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board, SEAB, says it has in place a due process to ensure that all examination questions are carefully set and vetted so that they are fair to all candidates.

It issued the response in reply to a MediaCorp query on last Friday's PSLE Chinese exam paper.

Some students who sat for the paper had found a comprehension passage very familiar.

Parents posting to online forums said their children told them that the passage had previously appeared in an assessment paper with only minor changes.

In its response SEAB added that examination questions are set by experienced and reliable examiners.

They are then moderated several rounds by panels of specialists from SEAB and the Ministry of Education.

Items are also trialled to ensure that the questions are fair and to determine the level of difficulty.

SEAB says in this instance, although the setter had drawn reference from an external source, the passage is not a reproduction.

The content and language in the passage had been substantially modified to be aligned to the assessment objective.

Comprehension questions set on the passage were not taken from any source.

SEAB also gave the assurance that pupils who had seen the other passage would not have been unfairly advantaged over those who did not.

This is the second time this year's PSLE examinations are coming under the spotlight.

Earlier, the PSLE Mathematics paper drew criticism for being too tough.

--938Live

charlize

14 Oct 09, 14:32

Originally posted by meltz:

MOE trying to fill up ITE vacancies .... and let FT fill up Uni

If I am not mistaken, there are probably foreign students studying in the ITEs too.

charlize

14 Oct 09, 14:34

I have seen PRC students in ITE uniforms before.

the Bear

14 Oct 09, 14:38

Originally posted by charlize:

I have seen PRC students in ITE uniforms before.

soon, there'll be kindergarten drop outs to make way for the PRC children

charlize

14 Oct 09, 14:41

Originally posted by the Bear:

soon, there'll be kindergarten drop outs to make way for the PRC children

I say times are bad now.

They will be much worse in the future.

Haiz.

BadzMaro

14 Oct 09, 14:55

HARD ? there is nothing called HARD.. only HARDWORK.

lol

Kids nowadays think they very smart lo.. so lets give it to them.

;p

No pain no gain ! N thats the cane.

Positive Parenting

14 Oct 09, 22:14

Maybe Singaporeans Kiasuism culture have turned us into a Paper Chase, Qualifications & IQ Driven Society??? Is it True? This is what parents think....http://bit.ly/3oMlq

Newtopia1

14 Oct 09, 22:23

I doupt that primary six students would be able to solve

this question, as a sec4, it took me like 7 minutes to complete

the sum, and using quadratic Equations which is out of their syllabus.

Using models would take far too long...

This could be a possible discriminator for A* and A students,

but still this is not the only difficult question,

so parents should not worry too much about the scores,

the curve would shift.

nightzip

15 Oct 09, 00:02

Originally posted by Newtopia1:

I doupt that primary six students would be able to solve

this question, as a sec4, it took me like 7 minutes to complete

the sum, and using quadratic Equations which is out of their syllabus.

Using models would take far too long...

This could be a possible discriminator for A* and A students,

but still this is not the only difficult question,

so parents should not worry too much about the scores,

the curve would shift.

The teacher who set the question do not have the decency to do a time check to see if the question (or all the questions) can be completed on time bah......

Some more its the first time they can use calculator, so they should use the 1st paper set to gauge students level, and not some teacher created some riddles and marvel to see which bright or smart student can solve his question.

nightzip

15 Oct 09, 00:05

And from gathered information, there are like 18 questions right?

so after reading, and comprehending the question, then do some rough working, then write down the answer, as what the forumite before me has say, already took MORE THAN 7 mins.

Lets say for a pri 6, on average they may take 9 mins to do.

So, 18 questions = 18 x 9 = close to 180 mins??????

PSLE got 3 HRS papers?

Kaoz! Even NUS/NTU Engineering Exams are only 2hrs or 2 1/2 hrs.

nightzip

15 Oct 09, 22:05

Parents up in arms again over PSLE Mathematics paper

SINGAPORE: The first thing her son did when he came out from the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) maths paper on Thursday this week was to gesture as if he was "slitting his throat".

"One look at his face and I thought ’oh no’. I could see that he felt he was condemned," said Mrs Karen Sng. "When he was telling me about how he couldn’t answer some of the questions, he got very emotional and started crying. He said his hopes of getting (an) A* are dashed."

Not for the first time, parents are up in arms over the PSLE Mathematics paper, which some have described as "unbelievably tough" this year. As recently as two years ago, the PSLE Mathematics paper had also caused a similar uproar.

The reason for Thursday’s tough paper, opined the seven parents whom MediaCorp spoke to, was because Primary 6 students were allowed to use calculators while solving Paper 2 for the first time. Paper 2 makes up 60 per cent of the entire paper and consists of 18 questions.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There you go, 18 questions..... shows outright of poor time estimation by question setter in MOE. How is it that if 1 question needs around >5 min inclusive of reading the question and formulating a solution.

So, paper 2 is 2 hrs mah?

Also the question setter or exam duration setter didnt even take into account exam stress which will require the students longer time in the exam environment.

I think even Polys or Univ lecturer able to set more realistic timing than them.

nightzip

15 Oct 09, 22:41

nganmatthias

21 Oct 09, 18:27

Some things to take note and think about:

For English, the textbook is rarely used by most English teachers because they are mostly on basic facts already taught in P1 onwards.

For Maths, calculations are important in our daily life, especially when we work in the future. However, the calculator can now be used. Furthermore, you don't go to Uncle Tidbits and give a problem sum to the cashier, making him/her rack her brains, do you?

For Chinese, the textbooks rarely help. The comprehension requires you to write everthing in the answer key. Even if your answer mean the same as that in the answer key, you will be marked wrong. For example, if the answer is ä»–çš„å®¶å¢ƒå¾ˆå¯Œè£•ï¼Œæ�°æ�°ç›¸å��ï¼Œå¥¹çš„å®¶å¢ƒå¾ˆè´«å›°ã€‚but if you write ä»–çš„å®¶åºå¾ˆæœ‰é’±ï¼Œè€Œå¥¹çš„å®¶åºå¾ˆè´«ç©·ã€‚, you may be marked wrong for missing out æ�°æ�°ç›¸å�� or not writing the key words å®¶å¢ƒå¾ˆå¯Œè£• and å®¶å¢ƒå¾ˆè´«å›°!

For Science, most of the information you learn is not going to be used in the rest of your lives unless you work in that field. You don't go to the grocery stall and tell the uncle, "Do you have any Prunus Cultivar (which is just the scientific name for plums)?", do you?

Â»Â¤ Liquified Â¤Â« ...

22 Oct 09, 01:16

siao~ primary school only lorh, talk about hopes like a teenager >_>

QX179R

24 Oct 09, 01:01

Singapore’s exam board says PSLE papers not too tough

SINGAPORE: After two outbursts in the last three years from parents about the Primary School Leaving Examination, in particular, the Mathematics paper, is there a nascent trend of questions becoming too difficult for 12—year—olds?

Not so, says the Singapore Examination and Assessment Board (SEAB).

In response to questions from MediaCorp, a spokesperson said that the panel responsible for setting questions ensures "there is a good coverage of syllabus and a judicious balance of easy, average and difficult questions".

This examination panel is made up of "experienced schoolteachers, curriculum specialists from the Ministry of Education (MOE) as well as SEAB assessment specialists" and they take "careful consideration" to ensure "the questions are within the respective syllabus and within the pupil’s abilities and experiences".

There are also "processes" in place to "calibrate the difficulty level of each question and to control the overall standard of the paper", said the spokesperson — though no specific examples were given.

Asked if there has been grade inflation — and hence, tougher papers being set in response to better scores — the SEAB spokesperson noted that the level of difficulty of this year’s PSLE Mathematics test is "pitched at the same level as that in the previous years".

Some parents have complained about this year’s paper based on feedback from their children, with some wondering if the introduction of calculators was a factor.

The use of calculators does not have a "direct bearing" on the difficulty of paper, according to SEAB.

Calculators became part of the primary school mathematics curriculum last year for Primary Five pupils "to help reduce computation errors". But basic computation skills "remain important", said SEAB.

This is why the PSLE Maths exam has been split into two papers — the first without the use of calculators and which constitutes 40 per cent of total marks — and the second where calculators are allowed and which pupils sit for after a one—hour break. At two hours 30 minutes, the total time allotted is 15 minutes more than before.

However, a teacher who declined to be named wondered if it was time to re—look the mode of PSLE assessment.

She told MediaCorp: "The syllabus is moving away from knowledge—based to one that is creative ... but despite the shift, the mode of evaluation has not changed."

She added that the level of difficulty could drive some parents to put additional pressure on their children.

And some parents, it seems, are going to great lengths to ensure their children are prepared.

A tutor told MediaCorp that she sends her nine—year—old son to two separate tuition centres so he can learn about creative problem solving as well as basic speed counting — all with an eye on the PSLE exams to come.

"Of course, the teachers at his school do their best to cover the bases but they only have so many hours in a day to do this ... I just want to make sure he doesn’t get left behind and is well prepared," said the 35—year—old.

— TODAY/so