2022 PSLE Discussions & Strategies (born in 2010)

[chenlaoshi]

https://contest.sph.com.sg/campaigns/post-psle-forum-on-nov-12/


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[passioninlearning]

Dear parents,

Just wrote a post on school selection. you may want to take a look.
https://passioninlearning.wordpress.com/2017/11/25/school-selection/

[EarlGrey019]

I d like to highlight a little bit of the impact if there’s such a contentious question in psle.


For some children, they may get confused thus overthink and ended up using more time on just one question.
In science exam, I believe time is of the essence, where even 5-10mins is precious. Therefore, if one used too much time in one question, he/she actually "sacrificed" the time that was supposed to be allocated for another question.

So, let’s say this student, after being confused and nervous over such contentious question lost 2 marks over only that question. Actually, he may lost another 1/2 mark(s) from another question since he didn’t have enough time to do the other, since he was mulling too long over that contentious question.

For some students, losing 3-4marks, or even 1 mark could mean change of AL range, thus total AL, thus secondary school alternatives.

So, if it really contentious, it is kinda unfair I guess.

I understand that we should wait and see what the question looks like first until it is published, however the children’s ‘fate’ is being decided now isnt it. Kinda like chicken and egg problem perhaps.

Anyway, the above scenario is based on assumption. Hopefully, there is nothing wrong.

[ChiefKiasu]

EarlGrey019\" post_id=\"2086306\" time=\"1666278057\" user_id=\"198855:

I d like to highlight a little bit of the impact if there's such a contentious question in psle.
...

Thank you for your insights

Time management during examinations is an essential skill throughout a student's life. It actually gets harder as the student progresses up the levels. As a personal preference, I would allocate for myself a minute for each question and leave myself at least 30mins buffer to review my answers or go back to tackle the harder questions. To make sure I get this right, I would test myself doing test papers under required time constraints again and again, until I'm comfortable I can do it under exam conditions.

[zac's mum]

I agree. By the time the kids reach prelims, they should already know how to deal with such unexpected, non-routine questions. By “deal with”, I dont mean how to solve them, but how to prioritize (de-prioritize, actually) them till the end of the paper instead of wasting too much time & brain cells figuring it out.


If the school teachers / tutors are not guiding your child how to do this, then I suggest parents step in and guide the child how to have the mindset of “expect the unexpected”. In PSLE the unexpected is always a given.

[Mr.025413Clumsy]

EarlGrey019\" post_id=\"2086306\" time=\"1666278057\" user_id=\"198855:

I d like to highlight a little bit of the impact if there's such a contentious question in psle.

For some children, they may get confused thus overthink and ended up using more time on just one question.
In science exam, I believe time is of the essence, where even 5-10mins is precious. Therefore, if one used too much time in one question, he/she actually \"sacrificed\" the time that was supposed to be allocated for another question.

So, let's say this student, after being confused and nervous over such contentious question lost 2 marks over only that question. Actually, he may lost another 1/2 mark(s) from another question since he didn't have enough time to do the other, since he was mulling too long over that contentious question.

For some students, losing 3-4marks, or even 1 mark could mean change of AL range, thus total AL, thus secondary school alternatives.

So, if it really contentious, it is kinda unfair I guess.

I understand that we should wait and see what the question looks like first until it is published, however the children's 'fate' is being decided now isnt it. Kinda like chicken and egg problem perhaps.

Anyway, the above scenario is based on assumption. Hopefully, there is nothing wrong.

You raise a very valid point. This is why we've always reminded our DS that when the question seems too difficult or contentious, move on to the next question. They can return to that question later but they must not waste time fixating over these types of questions. Rightly or wrongly, SEAB/MOE throws these curveballs every now and then, and students can easily fall prey to them.

Our approach has been that it is better to forego marks (possibly guesswork) at these questions and focus instead on doing well with the other questions RATHER than wasting time on such a question (where chances of scoring are uncertain) and neglecting doing well with the other questions.

The PSLE, like any other exam, is about time-management and hitting the high notes. Score where you can and where you can't, don't kill yourself trying. Return to that question after you've polished off the others nicely and then focus your efforts there. Otherwise, you run the (big) risk of messing the exam up because of these types of confusing/ambiguous/pain-in-the-b..t questions

Let me also me clear that this is our approach and reminder to our DS. Whether or not he follows is another question. I can appreciate that in the midst of the exam stress and flurry, it's easy to get caught up in the mess. Like I said, rightly or wrongly, it is what it is.

[EarlGrey019]

I agree with you all that children should have time management and strategy during exam.

However, on the other hand, I believe the exam setter should get their data/fact checked and reviewed properly first before giving out the paper.
Hopefully, there will be no more mistake in the question in the future.

[ChiefKiasu]

Hmm… I was thinking, maybe questions should have a time indicator beside it… eg (5 mins). That way, at least the student can tell how much time he needs to spend on it.

[Mr.025413Clumsy]

ChiefKiasu\" post_id=\"2086361\" time=\"1666322079\" user_id=\"3:

Hmm... I was thinking, maybe questions should have a time indicator beside it... eg (5 mins). That way, at least the student can tell how much time he needs to spend on it.

That's not a bad idea but I think that may cause more problems than it solves. Specifying a time indicator assumes that most (if not all) children are equally competent to solve the problem. However, that's not always true. Some will take longer than others and vice versa. If a child happens to solve it quickly, he/she may wonder why the question recommends more time, i.e. \"what did I miss??\" At the same time, if a child is slower, the time indicator may cause unnecessary panic and frustration.

I think we need to leave it to the children to make an assessment of the questions and to react/answer based on their knowledge and capabilities. Time-management (as you said) is key and it is something which they need to learn and master, rather than be guided in these exams. As it stands, they are already told how many marks the question is worth so they should assess from there how much time they should spend, whether it is worthwhile cracking their heads over it and how lengthy (or otherwise) their answers should be.

My 2c.

[Coffeelatte03]

Btw when are the schools informed of the PSLE results? Like the teachers will know much earlier right