Education article : "Increasing difficulty in PSLE maths?"

[zac's mum]

Spatial reasoning is tested under the topic “Nets”. It is also a necessary part of those qns which ask the child to calculate the external painted surface area of some group of cubes glued together.


Some kids are naturally better at visualising such. For those who are not, parents can get 3D blocks for them to assemble; cut out 2D paper to fold into 3D shapes (Nets qns).

[tinker_bell]

zac's mum\" post_id=\"2081096\" time=\"1662367885\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=2081096 time=1662367885 user_id=53606]
Spatial reasoning is tested under the topic “Nets”. It is also a necessary part of those qns which ask the child to calculate the external painted surface area of some group of cubes glued together.

Some kids are naturally better at visualising such. For those who are not, parents can get 3D blocks for them to assemble; cut out 2D paper to fold into 3D shapes (Nets qns).[/quote]

🤗 Thank you for sharing! Will see if I can buy the 3D blocks.

[tinker_bell]

https://i.imgur.com/g4gSGM3.jpg\">


Heard that 2022 PSLE mathematics exam was very manageable with no major surprises. I think Ivan and Helen both went on a holiday liao lor.....

[phtthp]

tinker_bell\" post_id=\"2084594\" time=\"1664815468\" user_id=\"194652:

https://i.imgur.com/g4gSGM3.jpg\">

Heard that 2022 PSLE mathematics exam was very manageable with no major surprises. I think Ivan and Helen both went on a holiday liao lor.....

seems like
ever since pandemic happened from 2020 onwards, entering into 2021, 2022 -

the Psle Maths paper is getting ... easier and easier.

Recall that in some past years, immediately right after the Psle Maths was over, there was such a huge commotion generated ! Especially in certain past years' Psle batch a few years ago, when so many P6 parents and students wrote in, complained to the press (Straits Times) :-

why SEAB set so tough challenging Psle Maths exam qns, not fair, what with all sorts of visualisation qns, or Ivan type of qns.

But this year ?
AFTER 2022 Maths paper was over, the scene was quiet , with many students commented \"this year, 2022, well, is .... manageable \".

So, what does all these imply?
Answer -

It seems that
....

SEAB has already run out of her thinking tank,
that is,

apart from setting Ivan type of question,
or visualisation qns,

SEAB don't know what else to set now ...

You want to recap, to recall ?
Flash back ...

So much commotion was generated, a few years back. Some P6 students cried, even vomited inside the exam hall,
because they
said they cannot finish the paper in time, or they complained unfair - why the Maths paper set, was so tough

Reference source (flash back)

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/tough-2019-psle-maths-paper-5-challenging-questions-over-the-years

=============================

If look at the positive side,
I think
it is good that going forward, SEAB ought to continue making PSLE Maths \"manageable\". In fact, I applaud SEAB to continue let the papers be \"manageable\", by the P6xers.


Why ?

So that
PSLE is not so stressful.
PSLE should not be stressful to young students, at such a young tender age, at 12 years old.

[tinker_bell]

Saw that the parent groupchats were discussing about there being a pattern to which year's PSLE mathematics examination is challenging or easy. Would you agree?


2017 - Challenging ( example ; Ribbon question )
2018 - Easy
2019 - Challenging ( example : Semicircle question )
2020 - Easy
2021 - Challenging ( example : Ivan & Helen question)
2022 - Easy
2023 - ???

[phtthp]

tinker_bell\" post_id=\"2084702\" time=\"1664874865\" user_id=\"194652:

2022 - Easy

Expect to see a lot of P6 students score AL 1 for Psle Maths, this year (2022)

[mummyof3angels]

phtthp\" post_id=\"2084728\" time=\"1664880918\" user_id=\"35251:

Expect to see a lot of P6 students score AL 1 for Psle Maths, this year (2022)

Without moderation or bell-curve, this scenario will most likely be the case.

[Ngmum]

Why alternate year easy and difficult?



Is the challenging math question in 2022 of comparable difficulty level to that of 2021 or 2019?

Let’s hope that next year standard are of similar standards to 2022.

It is sad to read news articles of students crying after they finish math papers last year.

[SG_KP1]

My personal view is if the student cannot figure out what to do in the first 1-2 minutes, leave it blank. Finish everything else, double-check, triple-check the rest of the paper and if still have time then come back to see if you can solve it (with a fresh and relaxed mind).


IMO, kids get frustrated and upset when they cannot do a problem (i.e. even spending time on the workings as suggested). The issue is that their mindset is out of whack for the rest of the paper, and they may end up losing more points than they should elsewhere.

Remember, the Helen & Ivan question in 2021 was 4 points (2017 Ribbon question was probably 4 or 5 points). For those targeting AL1, just skip it and get everything else right. For those in say AL2 - AL4, the student would typically be losing 10-25 points. This question is 4 of those points (that are typically lost).

Possibly, the 2019 Paper was more challenging with the Egg Tart, Semi-circle, and Triangle questions totaling 14 points. Leave them all blank and one can still get AL2, which is hardly the end of the world unless your targeted score required a must have AL1.

There is a lot of stress if the expectation (or targeted score) requires that everything go right or perfect for all four written papers. Have a reasonable range for each subject, add up the lows and highs and the student will most likely fall within this band.