2007 PSLE Math - Letter From Today Newspaper Forum

Someone sent me this letter. This letter is from the mother of a TOP student.

Today newspaper forum - Letter from GUO WEIFU

My son, a top student, returned home shattered after difficult PSLE maths paper.
THIS year’s PSLE mathematics paper has caused many students undeserved anguish.

Their reactions, including that of the good and gifted ones, were one of despair and discouragement upon encountering problem sums that were set beyond their capabilities. Some even broke down right after the examination. My son is in a top class. Mentally strong and confident in mathematics, he returned shattered boy after the exam. I immediately checked with friends and teachers from other classes and schools, and the same story was heard. Although schools have been equipping pupils with the skills of applying mathematical concepts, many could not complete half or more of the problem sums.
Is there a huge gap between expectations and ability?

In the mind of a child, he has either failed or done badly. With his confidence ripped by the mathematics paper, how can a child recover in less than 24 hours to face the next paper?Tearing children apart mentally at a developmental stage snuffs out the joy of learning. The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) had previously said “the exams were a means to differentiate students of diverse abilities by setting questions of varying difficulty levels”. It stated that an examination paper should be comparable in difficulty from one year to the next and “teachers know how to prepare their students for the examinations”.
SEAB also stated that different teams of experienced setters, moderators and examiners conduct several rounds of checking of each question and for the paper as a whole.
The fact different teams are involved is no consolation as it may be a systemic failure from pegging the paper at too high a standard. For some parents and students, education is seen as a source of mental torture.

All I ask is this: Please give the children of Singapore the confidence to face their future with a lion’s heart. Whaddaya think???

PSLE Math - Reply By Singapore Examinations And Assessment Board

The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board has made their reply on 2007 PSLE math paper.

What is your view? Do you agree with their reply?
Please send in your comments!

Regards,
Norman Tien

PSLE maths questions stump pupils - Feedback Posted in The Straits Times Forum

Yes, this feedback by Mrs Piyali Roy was inline with the many feedback I received from my primary 6 students after their PSLE math paper.

Well, like I have mentioned prior to the PSLE examination, the trend observed from the many schools' math prelim paper showed that questions asked will no longer be testing their arithmetic skills only.

Let's look at one of the question asked (this is not the exact PSLE math question as I do not have the exact dimension and diagram)

2007 PSLE Math Question:

Tank A is filled with water to its brim.

Water is then poured from Tank A to Tank B till both shared the same height (see fig. 2).
What is this height?

This is an obvious "volume" question but many primary 6 students were 'frightened' by the way the question was being asked.

It looked so simple but yet, most students do not have the slightest clue where to begin!

Before we look at the solution, why not you all take out your pen and paper and start working on this.

(now, to be fair to those primary 6 students who sat for their PSLE, I want you to solve this question based on what a primary 6 child would know about the topic "Volume". In short, do not use what you have learned from your Secondary or Tertiary education to solve this question!)

Can you solve it? Was it easy to solve?
How long did you take to solve it?
What is your answer?


Actually, if one knows the concept well, we can solve this question EASILY by just applying the formula:

Height = Volume divide by Base Area

whereby Volume is the volume of water in Tank A, Base Area is the total base area of the 2 tanks!

Let's calculate:

Volume of water in Tank A = 50 x 40 x 60 = 120,000 cubic centimeters

Base Area of Tank A = 50 x 40 = 2000 square centimeters
Base Area of Tank B = 70 x 40 = 2800 square centimeters

Total Base Area of 2 tanks = 4800 square centimeters

Therefore, to find the height of water in both tanks,

height = 120,000 divide by 4,800 = 25cm


Answer: height = 25cm

So, did you get the same answer too?

I am proud of you if you did so, especially if you are a primary 6 child!

If you do have more of 2007 'tough' PSLE questions, I would appreciate if you could send them to norman@pslemath.com.

I will share with all my readers once I received your contribution.

Attention:

For parents whose child is in Primary 5, you would also like to visit www.pslemath.com to view the coming P5 Exam Preparation Prog I will be conducting this coming school holidays (PSLE marking days)