New L1R4 system for JC entry

[sharonkhoo]

@zac-s-mum When you hear of anything interesting, post on KSP? Could be a good chance to meet too! Especially since we will have money to spend!

[zac's mum]

@SG_KP1 Not sure if A level History would be suitable for those who didn’t take O level History. The learning curve would be particularly steep (compared to Literature - I think).

Secondary school History has changed since our time, when there was only the structured essay component - just memorize the content & you can score well. Nowadays in lower sec, memorizing content will only get u 50% of the marks. The other half is from answering source-based inferential questions. Many Science-inclined students struggle with those.

In upper sec History (O levels), it gets even tougher: the structured essays are no longer simple memorized content. The questions are Argumentative-type essay questions, ie. “(Opinion statement on X historical event.) How far do you agree (with this statement)?” So the student needs to (within exam time limit), formulate the For and Against arguments, and conclude with his own opinion (agree or disagree) and why. Again, there are students weaker in English who do not even choose this essay type in their English O level compositions (preferring Narrative type like PSLE style, where they can memorize flowery descriptive phrases). They would fail both the History structured essay AND the source-based essay (which moves on to an even wider variety of qn types at upper sec).

[zac's mum]

To add on…our education system has always imposed pre-requisites for Science subjects, but now i’m not sure why. Science content is actually fact-based, and does not change (not at the fundamental levels, at least). The scientific analytical skills (interpretation of graphs, statistics) are not difficult to pick up either.

In contrast, the analytical skills required for Humanities (starting from Sec 1) are more difficult to teach and to learn. It requires a longer runway for mindset change/training. While i do not wish to suggest imposing an onerous pre-requisite for taking up A level Humanities, I’m starting to think that maybe removing the pre-requisites for science subjects will lessen the fear of not being able to take them at higher levels later on.

I think society and workplaces in general would benefit from having citizens who are trained in considering both sides of the coin, various points of view, and evaluating any grey areas, before making a considered decision for or against. This is a human element that AI cannot replace.

[SG_KP1]

I see, you may be correct. For Lit, I feel the poetry and drama sections can be a bit foreign/awkward at first/you may not know what you are getting into. For one of my kids, Lit (either embedded in English or standalone) has consistently been the lowest scoring component/subject across everything. I guess others may feel the same way about the History questions.

Either way, I think both are good for reading and writing, neither of which seem like they are over practiced these days.

[zac's mum]

@SG_KP1 Oh, mine has yet to have a written exam for Lit, and will probably score low for it unless they have been drilled in how to answer. He tells me they’ve had lots of fun though - Term 2 WA was to record a podcast-style interview, with one of them pretending to be a chosen character from the Lit text. They’ve also had inter-class/inter-level debates on chosen pieces of poetry, which they took very seriously and some students who are in the Debate CCA helped to coach the others who were new to the format.

[doodbug]

@slmkhoo said in New L1R4 system for JC entry:

@zac-s-mum When you hear of anything interesting, post on KSP? Could be a good chance to meet too! Especially since we will have money to spend!

Please do watch Hotel by Wild Rice if it is included in the Culture Pass!

[doodbug]

@zac-s-mum I understand why there are prerequisites for science and maths - because these are super structured subjects and the content and skills and topics build on previous foundations. There is a highly methodical way, which hasn’t changed in the past 100 years as far as foundational aspects go.

Whereas for Humanities, I don’t think there should be any prerequisites even at the uni level, for History, Geog, Lit or Economics. There isn’t a need to impose. Content knowledge is not exactly the key in these subjects The prerequisite skills needed are mainly in language and math. Those with prerequisite exposure may have an advantage at the beginning, but it’s not stacked learning the way it is for STEM.

[doodbug]

@zac-s-mum said in New L1R4 system for JC entry:

@SG_KP1 Not sure if A level History would be suitable for those who didn’t take O level History. The learning curve would be particularly steep (compared to Literature - I think).

Secondary school History has changed since our time, when there was only the structured essay component - just memorize the content & you can score well. Nowadays in lower sec, memorizing content will only get u 50% of the marks. The other half is from answering source-based inferential questions. Many Science-inclined students struggle with those.

In upper sec History (O levels), it gets even tougher: the structured essays are no longer simple memorized content. The questions are Argumentative-type essay questions, ie. “(Opinion statement on X historical event.) How far do you agree (with this statement)?” So the student needs to (within exam time limit), formulate the For and Against arguments, and conclude with his own opinion (agree or disagree) and why. Again, there are students weaker in English who do not even choose this essay type in their English O level compositions (preferring Narrative type like PSLE style, where they can memorize flowery descriptive phrases). They would fail both the History structured essay AND the source-based essay (which moves on to an even wider variety of qn types at upper sec).

It’s perfectly okay to read A level History without taking O level History. A good number of A level History students did not take History at O levels / upper sec.