In the past live streams many students came forward to ask if moderations and bell curve are going to affect their grades.
My universal reply to them is:
Why are you even thinking about it in the first place?
First thing first, we must understand what moderation and bell curves are, and why do they even exist in the first place? These measures are there, because the schools need to ensure and even distribution of grades across the entire student cohort, to better gauge average performance levels and to better plan their teaching material for future students.
Take an example when an easy paper is being set, and most of the students have done well in the paper. If there are no moderations, most students will land up getting a B or A grade, which doesn't reflect fully on how did the students on the overall fared amongst one another. Therefore the benchmark getting an A might be pulled up, resulting in lesser people getting an A for it.
Which led me to asking these students these questions.
Are these moderations and bell curves things that we can control?
Have you put in your due efforts to ensure that you had completed the exam to the best ability?
Are we studying just for the exams, or it's just a checkpoint to something beyond?
Focusing on what we can control
We cannot control how difficult the exam is going to be each year. Ultimately it's up to the exam board to decide. But what we can control is how much preparation that we had put in over the 4 years of secondary education.
True mastery is not about betting on game of chance, it's about being prepared for everything and anything that comes.
If students had put in the due dilligence, (whether last minute or consistently, I'll leave that to another day) and feels confident about the mastery of the content and knwoeldge learnt, what's there to fear and worry about?
Worrying about moderation and bell curves is as though you are praying for a lighter sentence after you had committed a crime. So why commit the crime in the first place, where you had 4 years to ensure that you don't?
Who does moderations and bell curves really affect?
All forms of moderations stem from a basic benchmark, (e.g. A1 is for 75% and above, A2 for 70% to 74%, etc.) When moderations kick in, who are the students that will really be affected.
Students who are scoring borderline passes/fails.
Students who are hovering between B3, A2 or A1.
So now the same question kicks in...
Why do you even land yourself in these categories of scores in the first place then?
Here's a table to break the scenarios down.
| You are well prepared for the paper | You had not done well for the paper | |
|---|---|---|
| Paper is generally easy than normal | You do well. Everyone does well too Moderations kick in. Your grades may be affected, but it's out of your control. | You don't do well. But everyone does well. Moderations kick in. Your grades may be affected, but it makes no difference, since you didn't do well in the first place. |
| Paper is generally average | You do well. Moderations does not kick in. You get your expected grades. | You don't do well. Moderations does not kick in. You get your expected grades. |
| Paper is generally tougher than normal | You do well. Everyone else struggled. Moderations kick in. It will not affect your grades, because you still did better than the rest of the cohort. | You don't do well, just like everyone else. Moderations kick in. Perhaps your grade might differ, but it does not make a significant difference, (e.g. C5 or C6) |
What's the main takeaway here?
If you don't prepare yourself and do well for the paper, you are just shortchanging yourself from all the possibilities that may help you in your grades. Any form of moderation won't help.
These uncertain factors might affect students who are well prepared and done well, and even so, it's out of their control.
Conclusion
There's no point to even be thinking about it in the first place!
Focusing on the Now
When we consider about moderations and bell curves, we are living in the future.
When we consider and speculate about the difficulty of this year's exam based on past year experiences, we are living in the past. Not saying that we don't review and reflect or to plan and look forward, but it's about taking the key lessons from these and making a difference NOW, instead of allowing ourselves to be paralyzed by the fear and emotions from those experiences and thoughts.
Losers let emotions run over them.
Winners manage the emotions, and get things done.
Seeing beyond...
As a student, it's understandable that exams serves as a major checkpoint to where they are standing now, and they pin their hopes and sources of validation on the results that they get. But I implore students to look beyond it.
We ought to continue to think ahead, no matter at which stage of our lives.
| Current stage | What should we aim for? | The correct mindset |
|---|---|---|
| Taking PSLE | Aim for O levels | PSLE is just a checkpoint |
| Taking O Levels | Aim for A levels | O Levels becomes a checkpoint |
| Taking A levels | Aim for Degree | A Levels becomes a checkpoint |
| Taking internships | Build experience in the industry, know people in the field, etc. | Internships and tertiary education becomes the checkpoint. |
We ought to be aiming for should at least be 2 to 3 levels beyond what they are doing now, and this is how humans can continue to improve and excel and grow!
Learning isn't about passing that exam...
Learning isn't about passing that exam. It's about learning how to learn and think.
The knowledge increases our awareness of our world.
The process of learning hones our skill to be able to learn anything that we want in the world.
It's to strengthen our mind, improve our thinking and be a better person.
Build yourself so strong that you will be immune and unaffected by insignificant things like moderations and bell curves.
Everyone is much bigger than these things.
~ MathSifu Moses