Many of you (Sec 4 and 5) would be taking the GCE O-Level Chemistry Examination this Oct 2009. In your school, your teachers should have gone through 3/5 of the Chemistry Syllabus by now. What you are going to experience next is a fast-pace, adrenaline rushing “chapters-crunching” within the next 3 months, whereby your school teacher will try to finish the rest of the 2/5 syllabus, in order to welcome the Mid-Year Examinations (this exam will show you how much you understand what has been taught for last 2 years).
For those in Sec 3 (2009), you should be studying the chapter on Methods of Purification, Solids/Liquids/Gases or Elements, Compounds & Mixtures,etc. Many of you might wonder what you are studying – some will be “blur like sotong” (in dialect it means “Really Lost”). Many question marks around ???
The basic question many of you would ask me is:
“What really is O-Level Chemistry Examinations?”
“How to Do Well in O-Level Chemistry Examinations?”
My answer to you will be:
It is just a GAME! And in games, you will need to understand the Rules & Regulations (even before you learn the techniques & tactics) in order to do score well within a Time-Period . Sounds like Soccer, Rugby, Baseball, Basketball competitions? Yes..you can equate Sports Competition = GCE O-Level Examinations.
Before we learn the game, the coach will always brief us on the Rules & Regulations, before he steps on his gear to coach you on the Techniques & Tactics.
In O-Level Chemistry Examination, we would first need to know the Rules & Regulations Scheme of Assessments / Arrangement of Chemistry Examination Papers and the time period allowed.
The O-Level Chemistry examination consists of two theory papers and one practical paper:
(click image to see clearly)
Paper 1 consists of 40 compulsory multiple choice questions. Each question carries 1 mark.
Paper 2 consists of two sections:
Section A carries 50 marks and consists of several compulsory structured questions.
Section B carries 30 marks and consists of three questions:
– The 1st two questions are compulsory and have total weightage of 20 marks
– The 3rd question gives you a choice from two questions and carries 10 marks.
Paper 3 is the School-Based Science Practical Assessement (SPA) which involves a set of school-teacher-assessed practicals spread over the two years of your O-Level course.
Note: The marks for each papers are not simply added up. They are weighted (or scaled) to the percentages shown in the table shown above. E.g. the Multiple Choice Paper (Paper 1) is marked out of 40 but contributed 30% of your final O-Level mark.
PS: The above table and discussion is based on Pure Chemistry Syllabus Exam Code 5066. Some students are taking Pure Chemistry Syllabus with other Exam Codes such as 5067, 5068 & 5072. Others may be taking Combine Science (with either Biology or Physics) and have Exam Code such as 5116, 5118, 5152 & 5154). You can check out the Singapore Examinations & Assessment Board (SEAB) website for more specifics, but what’s important is to know the Scheme of Assessment while you prepare for exams.
With these Rules & Regulations of O-Level Chemistry Examination in mind, i will continue with Year 2009 to provide O-Level students with more Chemistry Phenomenons, Tips & Strategies so that you can achieve the score that you truly desire.
Leave a Reply