GCE ‘A’ Levels 2011: A reflection

It’s been about three weeks since the release of the GCE ‘A’ Level results. I’ve been putting off writing this post, thinking that over time, additional insights and realisations will emerge from revisiting the results. I think it’s been long enough now.

The following observations express simple correlations and patterns that struck me – whether any of them prove an actual causation is debatable, especially since my sample size isn’t particularly large, and due to the many other factors involved that weren’t (and can’t) be taken into account in my analysis.

I tried to avoid creating correlations based on the results (i.e.  working backwards from the grades and ‘assigning’ strengths retrospectively). Instead, what my analysis did was to look for correlations between strengths that I had previously identified, over the course of 2011 (the year leading up to the A levels), and the actual results that students achieved. What struck me was this:

Personal voice and style matters

When considering the students who achieved an A grade, the most striking thing I noticed was that there was a strong correlation between having either personal voice, or a distinctive (but effective) style.

Of the students who I felt had personal voice or a distinctive (but effective) style, 50% achieved an A grade.

Some of the students who I felt had personal voice / style, unfortunately, lacked some key GP skills. After removing these students from the list, I found that 75% of those students got an A. In other words, of the students with solid GP skills and personal voice / style, 75% of them achieved an A grade.

Does this mean that one cannot get an A without personal voice or style? No – because 19% of the students who got an A were those who I hadn’t identified as having personal voice.

So having personal voice did not necessarily result in an A. Neither was it true that one couldn’t get an A without personal voice. However, a strong correlation was apparent, which leads me to believe that after mastering the basics of GP, it really is worth the effort to invest in finding your own voice and style.

A few other observations (some, retrospective):

Read, remember, practice, apply. Several ‘A’ Level essay questions had been covered in class, either in terms of the topic (e.g. Prejudice & Discrimination), or in terms of having done a very similar question (e.g. the place of books vs. The place of newspapers). Students who studied these topics, practiced essays on these topics or applied good arguments previously discussed in class tended to do well (A/B grade).

Master all the skills, not just the more common ones. Of all the school-based exams, the one with the strongest match between top students in that (school-based) exam and top students in the ‘A’ Level 2011 was the one where the Comprehension paper tested the same skills that came out in the actual ‘A’ Levels. In the 2011 ‘A’ Levels, there was a relatively higher proportion of language use and figurative questions (compared to previous ‘A’ Level Comprehension papers). The school-based exam that best matched this type of paper was also the one where there was the closest match in top scorers for both exams (school-based and ‘A’ Levels). So to be safe, master all the skills, including the ones that appear to come out less often.

Get help if you’re struggling. Miracles are rare. Students who consistently performed poorly in school exams tended to do poorly in the ‘A’ Levels. In other words, if you have been consistently doing badly for GP, get help soon. 

‘A’ Level resources

Check out these resources on Mr Lim’s blog.

Psychology 101

1. Negative state relief hypothesis: States that we help others for the egoistic reason of assuaging our guilt.

2. Similarity bias: We are more likely to help those who are similar to us. In general, situations – such as whether the person in need of help is similar to us, or attractive and the presence of bystanders – influence our likelihood of belong someone

Ultimately, we help for four key reasons: egotistic motives, situations, altruistic motives and biological factors.

- House and Psychology

Parts of the brain

The human brain, he says, is a magnificent but jury-rigged device in which newer and more sophisticated structures sit atop a junk heap of prototype brains still used by lower species. At the top of the device are the smartest and most nimble parts: the prefrontal cortex, which thinks and analyzes, and the hippocampus, which makes and holds on to our immediate memories. At the bottom is the basal ganglia, nearly identical to the brains of lizards, controlling voluntary but barely conscious actions.

Diamond says that in situations involving familiar, routine motor skills, the human animal presses the basal ganglia into service as a sort of auxiliary autopilot. When our prefrontal cortex and hippocampus are planning our day on the way to work, the ignorant but efficient basal ganglia is operating the car; that’s why you’ll sometimes find yourself having driven from point A to point B without a clear recollection of the route you took, the turns you made or the scenery you saw.

- Fatal Distraction, Washington Post

Some of you know why I’m posting this (hint: you might have copied it in your GP notebooks when I mentioned how such information is potentially useful), some of you don’t.

On manners

According to the AQs you recently submitted (RI Prelim 2009) here’s what an alarming number of you mistakenly believe manners  refers to:

Good manners

• donating to charity
• helping those in need

Bad manners

• embezzling money
• stealing your friend’s things
• cheating
• engaging in pre-marital sex
• sexual harrassment

These points have appeared multiple times now, in various AQs. Just to clarify, none of the above are about manners. 

-

There’s a piece in the Oct 31 2011 issue of TIME that does discuss manners, available online here.

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20/7: Assignment for extra class (Personal voice)

To my classes:

The next extra class will be on 20 July, and we’ll be looking at personal voice.

This class is best suited to those who

• are aiming to get 14 and above for language (essay)
• understand the concept of personal voice

To assess the second point, all those who are interested are to complete the following assignment, and either post your response as a comment to this post, or email me directly. Check back for my reply – if your response is acceptable, I will put you down for this session (20/7). If I reject your response, you are welcome to try again. Do note that I’m limiting my class size to 15 students (in other words, the first 15 accepted responses to this assignment). For obvious reasons, there will be no class if no one responds to this (minimum class size = 1 student).

Assignment (deadline: 16/7)

1. Find 1-2 excerpts (each ~200-300 words) that you think are written with personal voice. These excerpts can be from anywhere, including you own or your friend’s writing). It is best if you choose the type of personal voice that you hope to emulate.
2. Submit the excerpt, along with an explanation of what it is about the piece chosen that gives it personal voice.

Political change with pen and paper

“It’s human nature to be selfish”

To my students who keep throwing in the “it’s human nature to be selfish” argument:

If you’re going to use it, please justify this argument. If not, it’s merely an assertion. Perhaps you could consider qualifying it with Richard Dawkin’s “The Selfish Gene” idea, or Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – though do note that both have their fair (or unfair?) share of criticism.

Characteristics of Singapore

Characteristics of Singapore:

http://cjcpig.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/2010-promo-review/