Here are some useful resources to answering inference questions in source based. These questions tend to be the easiest.
To start off, Pearson has a good guide. It tells you what examiners are looking for. (Do not worry that the actual content of the sources is not related to the Singapore syllabus. In Secondary 3 and 4 Social Studies, you may be required to answer source based questions on topics that were not directly taught. In the past, the examiners have given pictures about a conflict called the Falkland Islands War , and pictures of a US-China conflict, and asked students to make inferences about them. These are just two examples)
Here's another good example.
After reading these resources, you should have a clear idea of the requirements of scoring full marks: make appropriate inference(s) and support them with evidence.
I welcome contributions from readers.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Friday, March 27, 2015
Source Based Questions
Often students are confused by Source Based Questions (SBQ) as it is new to them. In particular, lower secondary students sometimes they give up on the SBQ section, trying to compensate by doing better on other sections e.g. those requiring you to memorize facts.
Don't do this! It is rarely a wise strategy. In upper secondary history, SBQ will comprise 30 marks out of 50. That's a whopping 60% of your grade. Even if you decide not to take history, you will still have to take Social Studies. There, source based questions will comprise 70% of your total grade.
Therefore, you should be spending more time on source based questions, not less. How then can you master SBQ? Below is what I find most students forget:
Golden Rule: Marks are given on quality, not just quantity
You can write as long as you want, but if your answer doesn't have a certain quality, you won't be scoring high marks.
Take a look at page 65 of this document issued by MOE. (If you are looking at the page numbers, it's page 54).
Question 1(a) reads: "Study Source A. What can you infer..."
Notice that to score 4 marks, all you have to do is to write three high-quality sentences.
Sentence 1: Something you can infer from the picture (Europeans lived comfortably)
Sentence 2 and 3: Describe details in the picture which allow you to make the inference (e.g. huge house)
In contrast, you can describe the photo as much as you want and only get 2 marks.
This brings me to my next point:
Understand what kinds of questions that can be asked, and how to get to the highest level
There are different types of source based questions. If you are a lower secondary student, note that the kinds of questions you may get asked at the lower secondary level differ from school to school. (However, differences are slight, and once you reach the upper secondary level, you will all be preparing for the national examination.)
These kinds of questions generally revolve around the following:
All (or almost all) schools will require you to learn inference, similarity and differences at the lower secondary level. Some schools may want you to learn how to answer utility, reliability, and "study all sources" questions. If you are in such schools, try to do your best as it is good preparation for O levels. If you master them in lower secondary, it will certainly make Secondary 3 and 4 easier. But if you can't master such questions at the end of Secondary 2, don't panic.
In subsequent posts, I will give tips as well as a general strategy on how to answer some of these questions. There is a general strategy to attempt such questions.
(Comment: The hyperlinks in the bullet points above will bring you to posts which talk about such strategies).
Update: Click here for a structured essay question guide for upper secondary students
Don't do this! It is rarely a wise strategy. In upper secondary history, SBQ will comprise 30 marks out of 50. That's a whopping 60% of your grade. Even if you decide not to take history, you will still have to take Social Studies. There, source based questions will comprise 70% of your total grade.
Therefore, you should be spending more time on source based questions, not less. How then can you master SBQ? Below is what I find most students forget:
Golden Rule: Marks are given on quality, not just quantity
You can write as long as you want, but if your answer doesn't have a certain quality, you won't be scoring high marks.
Take a look at page 65 of this document issued by MOE. (If you are looking at the page numbers, it's page 54).
Question 1(a) reads: "Study Source A. What can you infer..."
Notice that to score 4 marks, all you have to do is to write three high-quality sentences.
Sentence 1: Something you can infer from the picture (Europeans lived comfortably)
Sentence 2 and 3: Describe details in the picture which allow you to make the inference (e.g. huge house)
In contrast, you can describe the photo as much as you want and only get 2 marks.
This brings me to my next point:
Understand what kinds of questions that can be asked, and how to get to the highest level
There are different types of source based questions. If you are a lower secondary student, note that the kinds of questions you may get asked at the lower secondary level differ from school to school. (However, differences are slight, and once you reach the upper secondary level, you will all be preparing for the national examination.)
These kinds of questions generally revolve around the following:
- Inference
- Similarity/Differences
- Utility (How useful is the source...)
- Reliability (How reliable is the source...)
- Study all sources. To what extent do...
- Sources A and B differ. Is one of them wrong?
All (or almost all) schools will require you to learn inference, similarity and differences at the lower secondary level. Some schools may want you to learn how to answer utility, reliability, and "study all sources" questions. If you are in such schools, try to do your best as it is good preparation for O levels. If you master them in lower secondary, it will certainly make Secondary 3 and 4 easier. But if you can't master such questions at the end of Secondary 2, don't panic.
In subsequent posts, I will give tips as well as a general strategy on how to answer some of these questions. There is a general strategy to attempt such questions.
(Comment: The hyperlinks in the bullet points above will bring you to posts which talk about such strategies).
Update: Click here for a structured essay question guide for upper secondary students
Hitler's manifesto fetches US$43,750
Apparently Adolf Hitler's manifesto Mein Kampf has sold for US$43,750. The sheer amount of interest in his possessions is noteworthy.
Food for thought: Should we be surprised that Mein Kampf fetched so much, since Hitler was such a notorious person? Or was it because of Hitler's notoriety that Mein Kampf fetched so much? Or something else?
Food for thought: Should we be surprised that Mein Kampf fetched so much, since Hitler was such a notorious person? Or was it because of Hitler's notoriety that Mein Kampf fetched so much? Or something else?
The legacy of Lee Kuan Yew
Shortly after Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away, a young person shrugged his death off. "What has Lee Kuan Yew done for me?"
Well, you may not realize it, but your life has been affected in many ways by him. Whether you like him or not, your life has been undeniably shaped by him. Take a look at your Secondary Two history textbook or syllabus. (http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/syllabuses/humanities/files/history-lower-secondary-2014.pdf)
Perhaps an illustration of his impact on your daily life may help too.
1. You wake up in the morning in your HDB flat. Hmm... HDB? In 1960, Mr Lee Kuan Yew deployed Mr Lim Kim San to build public housing for all. Previous attempts at public housing in the form of SIT (Singapore Improvement Trust) was nowhere as successful.
2. You have a glass of water with breakfast. Don't take the drinkable tap water and reliable electricity supply for granted! (http://www.eco-business.com/news/lee-kuan-yew-the-architect-of-singapores-water-story/)
3. Next, you walk out of the HDB flat and greet your neighbours. Are all of your neighbours the same race as you? No. You get to encounter Chinese, Malay, and Indian neighbours due to Lee Kuan Yew's policy of preventing racial enclaves. For example, in a HDB neighbourhood, a maximum of 84% can be Chinese, and a maximum of 22% can be Malay. See http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10296p.nsf/PressReleases/C515273FA068DD58482576DD00169155?OpenDocument
4. You take the public transport to school. Lee Kuan Yew realized that an all-bus system was inadequate, and decided to start the MRT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Rapid_Transit_%28Singapore%29)
5. Next, you're at school. Who made Singapore's schools so good that they are a magnet for foreign students from all over the region? Take a look at this article: http://sekolahsg.com/lee-kuan-yew-meant-foreign-students-singapore/
And so on and so forth...
All this is not to say that Mr Lee's rule was without controversy. Indeed, there were some questionable policies such as the Graduate Mothers policy. However, do not forget his long lasting legacy, and the many good things he has done for us.
Well, you may not realize it, but your life has been affected in many ways by him. Whether you like him or not, your life has been undeniably shaped by him. Take a look at your Secondary Two history textbook or syllabus. (http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/syllabuses/humanities/files/history-lower-secondary-2014.pdf)
Perhaps an illustration of his impact on your daily life may help too.
1. You wake up in the morning in your HDB flat. Hmm... HDB? In 1960, Mr Lee Kuan Yew deployed Mr Lim Kim San to build public housing for all. Previous attempts at public housing in the form of SIT (Singapore Improvement Trust) was nowhere as successful.
2. You have a glass of water with breakfast. Don't take the drinkable tap water and reliable electricity supply for granted! (http://www.eco-business.com/news/lee-kuan-yew-the-architect-of-singapores-water-story/)
3. Next, you walk out of the HDB flat and greet your neighbours. Are all of your neighbours the same race as you? No. You get to encounter Chinese, Malay, and Indian neighbours due to Lee Kuan Yew's policy of preventing racial enclaves. For example, in a HDB neighbourhood, a maximum of 84% can be Chinese, and a maximum of 22% can be Malay. See http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10296p.nsf/PressReleases/C515273FA068DD58482576DD00169155?OpenDocument
4. You take the public transport to school. Lee Kuan Yew realized that an all-bus system was inadequate, and decided to start the MRT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Rapid_Transit_%28Singapore%29)
5. Next, you're at school. Who made Singapore's schools so good that they are a magnet for foreign students from all over the region? Take a look at this article: http://sekolahsg.com/lee-kuan-yew-meant-foreign-students-singapore/
And so on and so forth...
All this is not to say that Mr Lee's rule was without controversy. Indeed, there were some questionable policies such as the Graduate Mothers policy. However, do not forget his long lasting legacy, and the many good things he has done for us.
Help to 'tag' a piece of Singapore's history
WANTED: History enthusiasts to caption old photographs and transcribe handwritten manuscripts with a piece of Singapore history.
They are invited to contribute to an upcoming portal with about 3,000 unidentified photographs dating back to the late 1800s, and 3,000 pages of Straits Settlement records, including letters from the time of Sir Stamford Raffles' administration.
These historical treasures, from the collections of the Government and individuals, are waiting to be "tagged" on the portal The Citizen Archivist Project at www.nas.gov.sg/citizenarchivist.
See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/help-tag-piece-singapores-history#sthash.5d2cQc8q.dpuf
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