lee_yl:

alng:

[quote=\"FantasyLandDreams\"]For this year's PSLE, my P6 mummy friends were telling me for my school, there is this group who were expected to get 26X based on prelim results ended up with 24X or 25X only. They were shocked as the names of the 26X did not appear in the top performers list ( usually for above 260).


Conversely, there is this group who expected to only getting 225 to 235 ended up with 245 to 252.

Not sure if the same thing is happening in other schools as well this year? Anyone can share?

I am not sure if this is due to critical thinking questions. MOE is having more critical thinking questions in the PSLE exam especially for Maths and Science. This kind of questions may not be performed well by those who have been performing consistently in their academics . This kind of questions may also be performed well by those who have not been performing consistently in their academics.

Talking about critical thinking, I wonder if those students strong in Maths but got that tricky ribbon cutting Maths question wrong, managed to get A*?

Just a thought, DH was speculating is MOE conducting tests to establish the difficulty level of the papers in preparation for AL Banding.

This time round, the tscore is spread fairly widely. Those 27X and 28X will get the equivalent of 4 points (under AL Banding). This group will safely enter R & H schools.

The next group scoring 26X will get the equivalent of 5 points which may need to ballot for TOP schools.[/quote]DS got the \"Ribbon\" & 2 other questions wrong (one badminton question & the other error spotted but did not
have enough time to correct it). 9 marks gone & he got an \"A\".

DS told me his PSLE score while I met him outside the school gate on the result annoucement day. It was still within the range of our expectation but on the lower end. I felt a bit disappointed (about the 9 marks if it was not lost would allow us to have more choices of school) and as I was still pondering about what I should tell him, a girl in uniform together with her daddy caught my eyes. It was really a heartbreaking scene - the girl was sniffing and wiping her eyes, while trying to hold back the tears and the daddy was trying so helplessly to console her.

It was painful to see this. It took a while for me to be back to normal. I then told DS, \"You have done well and I am very happy with what you have achieved.\" I think we learned and we should move forward rather than to be held back from here.

I have supported 10 as a more logical answer as in my earlier post. I am just trying to give an alternative view on the question.


Ambiguity always open to more interpretation. Why do one want to leave it ambiguous in the first place?

I do not understand why so many experts come out and support that there is no ambiguity, this is a good question and seem to imply that this type of question should be further encouraged.


What is the math concept tested here? You need only simple arithmetic skill to solve it. The expert in the yahoo articles pointed out that even a P2 student would be able to solve it. Number does not only count in whole but in fraction, decimal too. Math concept does not tell you that you must count ribbon only in one whole.

If this is a real life case. Try if you call for a bid based on what the question say. I will not be surprised you will get 9 tapes end of the day if both parties did not clarify in the process. In examination, some student may have doubt but they were not given the chance to clarify.

Creativity. I do not see any but may be more on maturity.

Jess wants 200 ribbons of length 110 cm for a party. However, the ribbons were sold at 25 m per tape. How many tapes will Jess need?


Mother: “I want 200 ribbons of length 110 cm for a party. However, the ribbons were sold at 25 m per tape. Go and buy the tapes.”
Son: “Mother, can I buy the type which can be joined so that I can join them in case the length of one piece is less than 110cm?”
Mother: “You are not allowed to ask question. Use your real life experience and creativity to make the decision.”

Son finally bought 9 tapes of ribbon.

Mother: “Wrong. I will punish you by cancelling the party.”

Another question "5 boys booked the badminton court for 2 hours. 4 boys played at the badminton court. On average, how long did one boy take to play?"


I am not too sure if the above are the exact wordings. Ds is confused over the word “on average”. I noticed a similar question in Rosyth’s preliminary paper this yaer (Paper 2 – Q4), the wording used is “If each student in the class have the same amount of playing time, how many minutes did each of them play?”. I find it worded better.

To most adult, it is quite obvious that the logical answer should be 10. There will be some wastage in one roll which is not long enough (less than 110cm) and therefore can not be used. But then, I am not quite sure if majority of the P6 students can see it that way. The student will have to link it to reality in order to get the correct answer. If the question can be worded more clearly (such as all the ribbons must be in one whole piece), it will certainly help to let them understand that wastages may be incurred. I do not think it is the intention of the question against that.


I am not against linking the concept learned to reality. I do think it is important to be able to do that eventually.